Yellowstone National Park 2025 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
17 through 20 June 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
~ June 2025 ~
June 17th - Tuesday
47 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 77 degrees out in the park. We saw a cow moose with a newborn calf in a strange place this morning; high to the south and in the first meadow behind Ski Slope. The Park Service is reroofing the Northeast Entrance building now. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 4:50 a.m. Gary G found a grizzly digging on Amethyst Bench. At 5:30 a.m. I found the grizzly sow with two yearlings (Institute family) north of the Institute. At 6:25 a.m. Gary G found a dark grizzly digging on the K Meadow; it was in view for a long time this morning. At 6:30 a.m. I found two grizzlies in K-3 Meadow. The grass is getting really high in that clearing, but one was dark and one colorful, we guessed a courting pair of grizzlies. At 6:30 a.m. I found a black bear in a high clearing south of # 1 finger on Norris. At 7:00 a.m. Gary G found a grizzly digging on the skyline above the snow cornices viewed from Footbridge Pullout. At 7:30 a.m. Gary G found a colorful grizzly digging north of Footbridge Pullout, on the east side of Druid Peak. At 8:10 a.m. I found a colorful grizzly digging on the east end of Druid Peak from Picnic Pullout (a different grizzly). At 10:35 a.m. Gary G found a grizzly sow with two yearlings (Specimen Ridge family) on the first meadow high and south of Ski Slope. This morning 1545M, the black yearling of the Junction Butte pack, was in the river corridor south of the Institute. Tonight, we found it bedded south of Coyote Overlook. This wolf likes to roam around a lot. At 7:15 p.m. we had a small black cinnamon bear just of the road near Upper Baronette Pullout.
June 18th - Wednesday
43 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to a warm 82 degrees out in the park. The red-tailed hawk nest south of Lamar Canyon East has two large chicks in it. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 4:50 a.m. Gary G found six black and two gray Junction Butte wolves near the four-day old bison carcass south of Hobard Hill. They were chewing on bones; I guessed a long time since they had caught something. They spent most of the morning trying to get bison south of the Institute, actually wounding one yearling or a small cow. 1479F grabbed it twice by the nose but they could not finish the bison. At 6:30 a.m. Carma S found the grizzly with three two-year-old cubs (Druid Peak family) north of Coyote Overlook. This evening, we had a two-minute sighting of the family, the three two-year-olds wrestling and slowly following the sow over the ridgeline. At 6:45 a.m. Hunter G, Silver Gate Guides, found the grizzly sow with two yearlings (Institute family) also north of Coyote Overlook. The Institute family sensed the Druid Peak family and moved away, with the cubs wrestling and playing as they moved off to the east. At 6:00 p.m. Gary G found a small colorful grizzly digging on the skyline above the snow cornices viewed southwest of Footbridge Pullout. At 6:15 p.m. I found a small colorful grizzly digging on Penny Lane viewed from the Confluence. This evening the Junction Butte pack now with three grays and six blacks finished the job on the wounded bison. It was not in sight of the road, in a small ravine. A good place to start in the morning.
June 19th - Thursday
42 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to a very hot 87 degrees out in the park this afternoon. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 5:10 a.m. we found four black and one gray Junction Butte around the new bison carcass site south of the Institute, just above but out of sight and just across the Lamar River. At 5:20 a.m. Randi M saw a colorful grizzly moving towards the wolves and carcass from the west. The grizzly stood up on its rear legs and decided not to proceed in that direction. It ran back into the Amethyst Drainage and out of sight. At 6:20 a.m. I found a colorful grizzly on the east end of Druid Peak viewed from Picnic Pullout. At 7:00 a.m. we had a black bear crossing the Southern Divide Ridge. At 10:15 a.m. 1545M, the black yearling of the Junction Butte pack, was north of Fisherman's Pullout. Leo L found it north of Fisherman's Pullout and it was trying to cross the road to the south. I was at Coyote Pullout, and it went pass on the north side at one hundred yards still attempting to cross the road. At 4:15 p.m. we had a bear jam as a black bear was sleeping on a rock northeast of Pebble Creek. At 6:30 p.m. Tim G found a grizzly sow with two yearlings (Institute family) high northwest of the Institute. At 6:50 p.m. Gary G found a grizzly a little farther to the west but still a long way from the Institute family. At 6:55 p.m. we had a black bear crossing the meadow behind the east end of Jasper Bench. At 7:30 p.m. I found a grizzly digging on the skyline above the snow cornices to the southwest of Footbridge Pullout.
June 20th - Friday
54 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to the mid 70's out in the park this afternoon. We had a strong wind and rainstorm out in Lamar Valley this morning. At 4:45 a.m. Gary G found a small colorful grizzly in the general area of the bison carcass. At 4:50 a.m. Gary G found a second small colorful grizzly near the bison carcass. They got close together but eventually went their own ways back into the tree line on Amethyst Bench. At 5:10 a.m. I found six black and two gray wolves coming in from the east just across the river, they were south of Hobard Hill. At 5:20 a.m. we had a large dark grizzly with what looked like an old wound on its left rear leg came into the carcass area. At 6:15 a.m. from Footbridge Pullout I found a grizzly sow with one yearling (Ski Slope family) in the green meadows south of the snow cornices. At 6:30 a.m. Gary G found a grizzly sow with two yearlings (Specimen Ridge family) not over a hundred yards from the Ski Slope family. Both families were digging and did not seem concerned about being so close together. At 7:45 a.m. I found three grizzlies wrestling and the large one leading the three when the wrestling ended (the Druid Peak family) - the sow and three two-year-old cubs. Unfortunately, all four disappeared before my friends arrived. Then at 8:00 a.m. Colleen K found three other grizzlies to the east of the now out of sight Druid Peak family. It was the grizzly sow with two yearlings (Institute family). Meanwhile at 8:10 a.m. Randi M found another grizzly digging far to the northwest still from Lamar Canyon East. Since only I saw the Druid Peak family, Gary G and I headed to Little America to look back to the northeast into Lamar Valley hoping to see the four grizzlies. They appeared to be going higher, and we hoped to see them from Little America. Fortunately, at 8:45 a.m. Terri W was watching to the north from Coyote Overlook and found the grizzly sow with three two-year-olds to the north. The sow did lay down and nursed the three cubs before the wind and rainstorm. The Druid Peak family had gone lower not higher and were good viewing until the wind and rain short but severe storm hit. About 9:00 a.m. Gary G found a grizzly with two yearlings (Middle Ridge family) in the Salad Bowl, so we could watch the four Druid Peak family to the north and three of the Middle Ridge family at the same time. At 5:50 p.m. Gary G had two grizzlies both on #2 finger on Norris, one a medium sized grizzly with a Yellowstone Stripe and a smaller colorful grizzly, both of them digging.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Helena E, Jeremy S, Taylor R, Wendy B, and Leo L. From Utah: Paul H. From Florida: Andy and Missy O. From California: Colleen K. Bear watchers seen this report: From Washington: Randi M. From Mississippi: Gary G. From Wyoming: Terri W. From Utah: Ed and Sara S. From Idaho: Jennings and Carma S. From Montana: Tim G. Others seen this report: From Montana: Gra, Arl S, Mike S, Nate U, Chris H, MacNeil L, Audra C, Michael S, Quinn H, Kate J, Hunter G, Kyle D, Jamie H and Michele H, and Alexander M. From Wyoming: Debbie M. From Vermont: John K. And from California: Carol B.
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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