Yellowstone National Park 2024 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
08 through 11 October 2024
Yellowstone National Park
Beautiful Mountain Lion ~ Lamar Valley ~ April 10th, 2023 ~ Photo by Linda Rudge Carney © All Rights Reserved
Mountain Lion ~ also known as the Cougar, Puma, Panther, or Catamount ~ Puma concolor
~ October 2024 ~
October 8th - Tueday
28 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to a nice 76 degrees. This has been the nicest and warmest October I have ever seen in Yellowstone. I had a THREE DOG DAY (coyote, fox, and wolf) today with two additional foxes. I want to mention a large thank you to Lamar Backcountry Ranger Cody C and his partner. I left my tripod and scope at Coyote Overlook this morning. Not realizing this until later from Footbridge Pullout that I left it, I back tracked all the way to Slough Creek to find it. Then returning I got into the longest bison jam of the year in Lamar Canyon. No scope with tripod seen. I figured someone had found it so started glassing again from the Institute when the ranger and his partner backed in a horse trailer to unload. I asked him if he had heard anything about a missing scope and tripod. He said if I could describe it, he would give it to me. He and his partner had seen it, made a sign up at Coyote Overlook, and put it in their truck and called it in to missing items. I had the covers for the scope, and they matched up as it was my scope. He asked if I was going to the west, which I was, and I picked up the sign and returned to another ranger. I could have hugged them, that saved me about $4,000.00 and a lot of time without a scope. At 7:25 a.m. I watched three bedded black Junction Butte wolves near the Marge Simpson Tree in Slough Creek. At 9:20 a.m. a couple from Wyoming showed me a grizzly digging in the shade on Ski Slope. Later I looked again and found that it had one cub of the year with it. The haze was bad looking south this morning, but we watched them for quite a while. They moved south and over the west flange of Ski Slope, so we went to Lamar Canyon East to continue watching. They were in view for a while then I lost them. Dale and Faye B moved to Dorothy's Pullout and found that they had changed direction and now they were visible in Square Meadow from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. Then they moved down to Amethyst Bench for great viewing as they were digging. I went on to glass for other bears but returned at 6:30 p.m. to find the sow and cub of the year still on Amethyst Bench digging away. At 5:30 p.m. two gray Junction Butte wolves were seen with the blacks from this morning near the Marge Simpson Tree.
October 9th - Wednesday
30 degrees this morning warming up to 76 degrees. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. I hiked this morning with Frank H as we walked through the beaver ponds now abandoned in Crystal Drainage and up to Crystal Rock. Behind Crystal Rock was one of the three wolf pens build to hold the Crystal Creek wolf pack in 1995. I remember being able to see a corner of the pen from the road in spring of 1995. It was about one- and one-half mile one way hike in great weather. We also heard a lone wolf howl to the east of Crystal Rock. It howled three or four times, but we never saw the animal. Ten minutes later three other single wolf howls sounded farther away. At 7:25 a.m. I watched seven black and three gray Junction Butte wolves near the Marge Simpson Tree. The wolf watchers count was eight black and four grays (four members of the pack of sixteen were not around there this morning). Members of the pack identified today were the alpha male, the alpha female 907F, 1478F a gray two-year-old, and black 1279F the now yearling, only pup from last year; and all five of the pups, four black and one gray. From 7:45 a.m. through 9:50 a.m. I watched the grizzly sow with one cub of the year again on Amethyst Bench digging away. They were in view again from 4:40 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. At 6:45 p.m. I returned to Lamar Valley with a couple of wolf watchers to show them the grizzly family but there was only a large dark grizzly crossing Amethyst Bench going east. I watched until dark, the large dark grizzly continued going to the east and the grizzly sow and cub of the year reappeared later the large grizzly left the area.
October 10th - Thursday
32 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 76 degrees. I had a cow moose in the dark at 5:35 a.m. at Warm Creek. A fox near the usual bull bison at Lower Baronnette Pullout, I could not find a coyote today, so no three dog day. I watched a dark figure east of the Amethyst Bench this morning, it turned out to be large cow moose, who crossed Amethyst Bench and preceded east between the river and the tree line. I had a Cotten tailed rabbit at the Barn at the Institute this morning. I hiked again today with Frank H. Today he showed me the den of 907F when in 2022 she denned south in Crystal Drainage while the other female denned in the regular Slough Creek den site. In 2020 1109F a black wolf of the Junction Butte pack had denned in the same den, but none of the pups survived. Again, about a one- and one-half mile one way hike. At 8:00 a.m. I watched seven black and three gray wolves of the Junction Butte Pack moving around near the Slough Creek corridor. The wolf watchers count was fifteen, ten blacks and all five of the grays, only 1477F, a black two-year-old was not seen this morning of the sixteen in the pack. At 4:20 p.m. I saw the glow of two grizzlies low on the Square Meadow. Grizzlies often glow in the sun and putting up the scope it was the grizzly sow with one cub of the year. I viewed them again at 4:45 p.m. just above the Amethyst Bench in some trees, and again at 5:00 p.m. bedded just above the Bench. I went to an early dinner tonight, leaving at 5:00 p.m., but others watched them on Amethyst Bench for over an hour tonight.
October 11th - Friday
34 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up into the low 70's. At 7:19 a.m. through 9:00 a.m. I watched the grizzly sow with one cub of the year digging on Amethyst Bench. I went to Slough Creek to check on the wolf action and when I returned no sow and cub of the year. The wolf watchers only had three wolves this morning, two adults and one pup who all moved east below the Yellow Grass Meadow and out of sight, I did not see them. Tonight, the grizzly sow and one cub of the year was on Amethyst Bench from 4:00 p.m. until I left at 5:45 p.m.
News
The new Tom Miner Bridge opened at noon today.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Kristina G, Leo L, Russ K, Jeff A, Carolyn G, and Wendy B. From Wyoming: Dale and Faye B. From Missouri: Frank H. From Tennessee: Stacy A. From Kansas: Calvin and Lynette J. From North Dakota: Sandy H. From Colorado: Mark, Carol, and Roch R. From Oregon: John and Renee E. From Washington: Story W, David O and Stephanie O. From Mississippi: Chuck and Wynette M. From Florida: Andy and Missy O. From Pennsylvania: Jack D and Dusty, and not sure where Story is from, I have not seen her since she was a kid. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Montana: Doug M, Jeff and Val B, and Chuck W and Debbie H. From Utah: Scott and Joann M. From Oregon: Larry and Char T. From Wyoming: Sandi R. Others seen this report: From Montana: Dan and Cindy H, Bob L, Chris H, Michael S, Cara M, Cliff B, Nate U, Evan S, Audra C and Mike S. From Wyoming: and Jeff H.
Beautiful Mountain Lion ~ Lamar Valley ~ April 10th, 2023 ~ Photo by Linda Rudge Carney © All Rights Reserved
Mountain Lion ~ also known as the Cougar, Puma, Panther, or Catamount ~ Puma concolor
Yellowstone National Park
Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park
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