Yellowstone National Park 2025 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
10 through 13 April 2025
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
~ April 2025 ~
April 6th - Sunday
32 degrees in Gardiner but only 19 degrees at Slough Creek this morning warming up to 59 degrees out in the park. Today and yesterday not a cloud in the sky. Both ospreys were on the nest in Lamar Canyon today, this is earlier than usual. The pronghorn antelope have moved up into the park as far at Hellroaring. The elk are moving up into the park with more elk seen every day. At 6:00 a.m. I was at Blacktail Ponds in the dark. A gray wolf crossed the large snow patch near the two remaining bison carcasses in the Ponds. Probably the one gray in the Rescue Creek Pack. From 10:30 a.m. through 1:15 p.m. I looked for the grizzly sow with one Cub Of the Year (coy) seen yesterday on finger # 2 on Norris. Paul H and I were watching from Footbridge. We found the grizzly bedded near a large pine tree glowing in the sun viewed from Footbridge Pullout. Both Paul and I were 99% sure that was really the grizzly but had to wait over an hour for the sow to move. Then another hour for her to move through some snow but still did not see the coy. Fortunately, Kevin M was in a better location at Soda Butte Midpoint and had both in view. We moved quickly to his location. They were only in view for ten or fifteen minutes before returning to bed again at the pine tree which could not be seen from Kevin's location. The sow did the nurse the coy for a couple of minutes, the sow laying on her back looking down towards the road. Before today, my earliest sighing of a cub of a year had been April 27th, this is way early. Others saw all eleven Junction Butte wolves on the slopes of Hellroaring today chasing bison and antelope; and also saw twelve of the thirteen Rescue Creek wolves on the Blacktail this morning.
April 10th - Thursday
34 degrees at Gardiner but only 24 degrees at Blacktail this morning warming up to a warm 66 degrees. At 6:20 a.m. Paul H found a black collared wolf in the Slough Creek corridor viewed from Daves Hill. I arrived at 6:40 a.m. and climbed the hill to find that Paul now had two black wolves. They quickly disappeared. Glenda M joined Paul and I and found a large grizzly near the Southern Round Tree heading north. It went through the mixed conifer aspen forest and then after about twenty minutes disappeared over Junction Pass. Just then I found a black wolf were the two disappeared. Eventually all eleven wolves of the Junction Butte Pack moved into view. They swam the creek and headed slowly to the den area. Arriving at about 9:00 a.m. several checked out both the Sage and Natal dens, either going inside or looking into each den. They had a group rally then slowly disappeared behind the eastern trees of the den area and out of sight. Towards evening they were seen again, but I was not there for that.
April 11th - Friday
44 degrees in Gardiner but only 24 degrees on the Blacktail this morning warming up to 69 degrees with afternoon winds. We had a cow moose at Fisherman's Pullout this morning crossing the road to the north. I viewed a pair of barrows goldeneye ducks at the Confluence this morning. My first vulture, actually two of them, were flying over the Lamar River Bridge this afternoon. At 7:00 a.m. for about twelve minutes I watched a grizzly low near the Little Buffalo Drainage viewed from Upper Hellroaring Pullout. It was moving slowly and digging and getting something to eat. At 10:25 a.m. Wendy B called out that the Mollies wolfpack was in the Soda Butte Valley. They were to the south of Soda Butte East Pullout. I viewed all three blacks and four of the six grays as they slowly moved into the trees to bed out of sight. From 2:00 p.m. through 3:35 p.m. we watched a medium sized grizzly digging and getting something to eat north of Picnic Pullout. The grizzly looked in pretty good shape and a lot of people got to watch the grizzly. It is a good sign that grizzlies are finding something to dig and eat. This will make finding grizzlies a lot easier. Up to this time most sightings were grizzlies on a carcass or traveling to find a carcass. Now the sightings should be longer. I viewed my first vulture in Yellowstone today. I had a THREE DOG (coyote, fox, wolf) DAY today.
April 12th - Saturday
53 degrees in Gardiner but only 40 degrees at Slough Creek this morning warming up to 59 degrees. We had some morning and afternoon showers. I had a skunk on the road to Gardiner this morning, only the second skunk I had seen in Yellowstone. At 7:15 a.m. with a lot of help from Paul H, Kristina G, and Glenda M, I got to see a limping grizzly leaving the old bison carcass north of Soda Butte East Pullout. It has a bad right front leg or foot and is not moving very fast at all. But once it laid down and played putting his legs in the air, maybe not in too much pain. Others were seeing a large grizzly north of Boulder Pullout found by Geoff F. Then the large grizzly appeared down by the Marge Simpson Tree and Wendy B called that location in. When I arrived, the grizzly had gone behind a hill going north and Wendy suggested Long Pullout. Michael S, Wolf Tracker, spotted the large very dark grizzly near Aspen Drainage. After changing direction because of a few bison, he proceeded up the drainage for good views of fifteen minutes. Around 10:00 a.m. James visiting from England let Kevin M know that he had wolves south of Straight-away Pullout in Little America. Kevin let me know. They were hunting bison but not effectively. They moved slowly west towards # 9's old den, bedding for a bit, then disappearing in the tree line. We were hoping they might go on top of Specimen Ridge for another view of them, but they did not. I counted six blacks and three grays, missing two blacks who I could have missed.
April 13th - Sunday
34 degrees this morning in Gardiner but only 26 degrees at Slough Creek this morning. I viewed my first two Kestrels this morning in Lamar Valley. I had a vulture flying over Buffalo Ford this afternoon. At 7:10 a.m. I saw my only grizzly of the day slowly going over the ridgeline. I was at Boulder Pullout and the grizzly was across the ford and east of the rock formation. In view for about two minutes. Later still at Boulder Pullout we heard howling across the river, and it sounded high up. At 8:30 a.m. Paul H found a collared gray near a few birds. Their count was six blacks and three grays of the Junction Butte wolfpack. They soon traveled east, and I got to watch them as they arrived near the Marge Simpson Tree. You had to walk down to Bob's Knob or climb Dave's Hill but could be seen from Lamar Canyon West from the road. They bedded rather quickly and stayed there at least through 3:30 p.m. this afternoon. The total count at Slough was eleven, all members seen, eight blacks and three grays. At 4:10 p.m. I viewed a bedded black bear on the south side of Tower Hill. A small black bear that Geoff F had told be about earlier.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers seen this report: From Montana: Rick M, Taylor R, Krisztina G, Wendy B, Dan and Laurie L, Joe K, Ilona P and Leo L. From Utah: Paul H. From California: Glenda M and Rick. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Wyoming: Kevin M, Gabriel M, and Sandi R. From Montana: Chuck W and Debbie H, Jack G, and Jeff and Val B. From Connecticut; Geoff F, kids Luke and Kate, and girlfriend Tennille. Others seen this report: From Montana: MacNeil L, Andrea B, Jamie and Michelle H, Grant J, Nate U, Quinn H and Bonnie M, Dan and Cindy H, Pete B, Michael S, Scott B, Ken S and Bob L.
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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