Yellowstone National Park 2025 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
28 through 31 May 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
~ May 2025 ~
May 28th - Wednesday
42 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 78 degrees this afternoon out in the park. I watched a moose this morning on Ski Slope and a big bull moose this afternoon at Pebble Creek. At 5:30 a.m. Hayden G found a grizzly in Secret Passage, looks like it was hunting elk calves. At 5:50 a.m. Hayden G showed me the grizzly sow with one yearling in a meadow behind Bear Meadow. It was a long way from Ski Slope, but it looked like the Ski Slope family. At 6:00 a.m. Wayne K found the two sub adult grizzlies digging in the Bowl, they were in view a long time this morning. At 6:15 a.m. Gary G found a dark grizzly north of Hubard Hill. At 6:40 a.m. Hayden G found a grizzly north of Picnic Pullout; it was a one-to-two-minute sighting. At 6:55 a.m. Hunter G called with the grizzly with two yearlings north of Coyote Overlook. This is the first time we have seen this family, who we watched north of the Institute several times last year. At 10:00 a.m. Gary G found the grizzly sow with two yearlings digging in Bear Meadow. At 11:00 a.m. Gary G spotted the grizzly sow with three two-year-old cubs north of Hubard Hill, good viewing this morning. At 12:20 p.m. we had a small colorful grizzly viewed digging in the K-3 Meadow. At 7:00 p.m. I found a cinnamon black bear high south of # 1 finger on Norris. At 7:15 p.m. I found a grizzly sow with three cubs of the year high to the south of # 3 finger on Norris. We watched the family for a long time not sure if they were grizzlies. Fortunately, Gary G took a video and enhanced it to prove they were a grizzly family. This is a new family for us this year.
May 29th - Thursday
37 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 76 degrees out in the park. The warm weather has raised the water levels in the Soda Butte Creek and especially the Lamar River. Two moose were spotted in the second clearing behind Ski Slope this morning, a strange high place for moose to be. I had a THREE DOG DAY (coyote, fox, and wolf) today. Paul H was entering the park at 3:45 a.m. when he encountered a mountain lion in the road in front of him. His first mountain lion even, he was very happy today. At 5:10 a.m. Gary G found the two sub adult grizzlies high in A-Z Meadow, they soon moved over the hill and into the Bowl where they spent a lot of this morning digging. At 5:40 a.m. Kim C found the Ski Slope grizzly sow with one yearling back on the top of Ski Slope. At 5:55 a.m. Mark and Carol R called with a grizzly north of Trashcan Pullout. Then called back with two grizzlies, then three grizzlies and finally four grizzlies. It was the grizzly sow with three two-year-old cubs. Good viewing and they were out again in the evening. At 6:00 a.m. someone found four gray Mollies wolves south of Trashcan. Two were collared and two were not. Good close viewing and they were in view for a long time. At 6:25 a.m. Gary G found the grizzly sow with three cubs of the year in about the same clearing as last night. Viewing was OK but then the sun got high to make looking that way impossible. At 6:35 a.m. we had a small colorful grizzly digging in K-3 Meadow. At 7:20 a.m. Gary G found the grizzly with two yearlings in the Bowl. At 7:30 a.m. we had a large dark cinnamon black bear on the #2 finger on Norris. At 8:55 a.m. Kim C had a grizzly digging in Penny Lane. At 9:00 a.m. I found a smaller grizzly moving around on Norris viewed from Picnic Pullout. At 10:00 a.m. 1478F of the Junction Butte wolfpack was seen in Lamar Valley. This female has not been seen with other wolves for about two weeks and is believed to maybe be in a separate den. At 11:30 a.m. a large black bear was seen bedded in the tree line south of Slough Creek restroom. It was already hot, and the black bear was in a nice shady place. At 4:45 p.m. two grizzlies were spotted close together in K-3 Meadow. Since we viewed one there this morning, we added one more grizzly to today's count. At 7:35 p.m. a large cinnamon black bear was seen in Round Prairie. Often tourists assume that if the bear is not black like a lot of the black bears, it must be a grizzly. In this case most thought it was a grizzly but it was not. The hump in the front shoulders and the dished face are the way to tell.
May 30th - Friday
40 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming to 80 degrees out in the park. Not the best weather to watch grizzlies. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 5:20 a.m. I found three black and two gray wolves of the Junction Butte Pack (one was 1478F) bedded on the west end of Jasper Bench. At 6:10 a.m. Randi M found the grizzly sow with three cubs of the year on the # 5 finger on Norris; they had moved to the # 5 finger last night. At 6:20 a.m. Gary G found two grizzlies in K-3 Meadow. One dark and one colorful, both small grizzlies and we assume two sub adult grizzlies. At 6:40 a.m. Don P called with the grizzly sow with three two-year-old cubs in view north of Trashcan Pullout. It was the second time he called seeing the family. Both times when I arrived, they were out of sight. The second time Don P showed me where they disappeared, and I knew I could probably see them from Picnic Pullout. This time I was right and had good viewing until the sun rose over the skyline. At 6:30 a.m. from Footbridge Pullout we watched one Mollies gray wolf near the new growth forest where the Mollies den is located. I had a two-pack day today. At 8:00 the black bear sow with one cub of the year was near the tree line south of Hubard Hill. At 9:00 a.m. Gary G had two cinnamon black bears (the large one dark and the smaller one light) east of A-Z Meadow. I saw them better later and believed it was a sow with a yearling cub. At 8:30 a.m. Kerri O found two grizzlies on the skyline on Norris. I was way west at Coyote Overlook and could not tell what type of grizzlies. Fortunately, later we got a better look, and the large one was following the smaller one, courting behavior. At 10:00 Scott M told me he had three grizzlies high in Salad Bowl. It turned out to be the grizzly sow with two yearling cubs. They crossed a long snow cornice and spent ten to fifteen minutes playing in the snow. The sow would dig big holes in the snow to cool off, while the yearlings raced back and forth chasing each other, sometimes the sow joined in the play. At 11:30 a.m. Gary G found the mixed family (the sow, one large two-year-old-sized cub, and one small yearling sized cub) on Penny Lane. Good viewing but not too long. At 1:00 p.m. I found the grizzly sow with two yearlings high northeast of Pebble Creek (we believe the western flank of Baronette). It has been a week or two since we seen this family. At 6:00 p.m. I watched a cinnamon black bear cross Ski Slope. At 6:30 p.m. I watched a black bear grazing on the # 1 finger on Norris.
May 31st - Saturday
36 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 81 degrees out in the park this afternoon. Two large bull moose were seen south in the Soda Butte Valley this morning. At 5:20 a.m. I found a black bear low in the Bowl. At 5:25 a.m. Gary G found the grizzly with two yearlings in No Bear Meadow. Later they moved to the Bowl where they played again on a snowbank. At 5:55 a.m. I found the grizzly family with three two-year-old cubs. Just like yesterday the viewing was pretty good as they were just below the skyline but when the sun came over the skyline it was time to search elsewhere. At 6:30 a.m. Kerri O watched a cinnamon black bear traveling on # 1 finger on Norris. At 8:15 a.m. the two sub adults were back in the Bowl digging. For a time, there were five grizzlies in the Bowl until the sow with two yearlings went over the top and out of sight. At 10:00 a.m. I found the two sub adult grizzlies again on K-3 Meadow. In view for hours after we found them. At 10:15 a.m. Gary G found a black bear with one black cub of the year in a small clearing under the snow cornices southwest of Footbridge Pullout. At 10:35 a.m. I found a black bear sow with two cinnamon cubs of the year in the first skyline clearing east of Penny Lane. At 7:00 p.m. Tim O found the grizzly sow with two yearlings north of the Institute, only the second time I have seen this family.
People Seen
Wolf watchers seen this report: From Montana: Rick M, Wendy B, Jeremy S, Taylor R, Jeff B, Jeff A, and Becky C. From Utah: Paul H and Celia L. From South Dakola: Sam and Ginny G. From Missouri: Frank H. From Oregon: Michael and Deb O, and Bruce and Kelly H. From Colorado: Mark, Carol and Roc R, John and Lisa C, and Steve and Robin M. From Minnesota: Scott W. From Wyoming: Dale and Faye B. From California: Glenda M and Rick G. From New York: Rick and Maureen B. From Vermont: Joanne H. From Sweden: Jacob B. And from Ohio: Tim and Kerri O. Bear watchers seen this report: From Washington: Randi M and John G. From Mississippi: Gary G. From Illinois: Wayne K, Mike G and Cousin Bill. From Montana: Doug and Joanne M, Mike and Kathy W, Joe and Jeannie L, and Kathy M, From Utah: Hayden G and Scott and Joanne M. From Vermont: Don P. From Wyoming: Rita R. From Kansas: Richard and Sandy B. From Colorado: Dave S and Rick and Tanner H. From Idaho: Kim C. From Virginia: Big John B. From Oklahoma: Shawn and Regina W. From California: Les W and his wife And from South Carolina: Margaret P. Others seen this report: From Montana: Quinn H, Michael S, Mike S, Hunter G, Bob C, Audra C, Andrea B, Alexander M, Jayden A, Kate J, Brad B, and Evan S. From Wisconsin: John and Marie E. From California: Carol B. And from Texas: Alan and Sue O.
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
Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park
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