Yellowstone National Park 2026 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
October 2nd through 5th, 2026
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 2026 ~
October 2nd - Friday
36 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to a warm 75 degrees out in the park this afternoon. I had two foxes today near the Northeast Entrance. I got to see the horse, named Evie, which has been loose for a long time hanging around the bison herds in Slough Creek. She spent her first five years as a feral horse in an Indian Reservation down south. Sold at auction and was brought to Slough Creek as a pack house. She escaped.
At 8:10 a.m. I found a dark grizzly digging near the skyline northwest of the Institute. It moved over the skyline about ten minutes after I found it. At 10:35 a.m. Denise M found the Junction Butte wolves that have been seen only a few times in the last week. She found them low across the Slough Creek. She had a black and a gray. Denise showed me where she had them and I counted at least eight blacks and a gray. They were stretched out in a long line about a quarter mile long. They were in view on and off for fifteen minutes. Aaron M then found them crossing the Aspen Pullout, a two-to-three-minute sighting now all close together head to tail. Grant J and others had watched them from Little America a little longer for only ten minutes or so. We thought they might reappear higher up the ridge this evening but were not seen again today. I think most of the fifteen wolves were probably there this morning.
October 3rd - Saturday
Saturday October 3rd. 36 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 76 degrees this afternoon out in the park. I watched the horse, Evie, again at Slough Creek this morning. From 6:55 to 7:15 a.m. I watched a dark grizzly digging near the Eastern Foothills watching from the Confluence Pullout. It slowly moved into the trees and out of sight.
October 4th - Sunday
32 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 80 degrees out in the park this afternoon. At 7:00 a.m. Mark and Carol R and others found the Junction Butte wolf pack on the eastern end of Lamar Valley. At first, they were bedded, then slowly moved off to the east, then laid down, and finally moved back to the west. They eventually found a lone cow bison and after ten minutes took it down directly south of Hubbard Hill. All fifteen, thirteen blacks and two grays, were present today. I spent most of the day watching them. They eventually moved into the shade and the tree line. At least one wolf was in view until 6:00 p.m. today. Just before 6:00 p.m. we counted fourteen of the fifteen wolves returning to the cow bison carcass. I did have a THREE-DOG DAY today.
October 5th - Monday
34 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 81 degrees out in the park this afternoon. I hiked with Frank H, Kathie L, and Glenda M up to Crystal Rock in the Crystal Drainage south of Slough Creek this morning. In 1995 the park introduced wolves back to Yellowstone, and the Crystal den was one of the first three pen sights in the park. The Crystal wolfpack can be traced to the current Mollies wolfpack of today. On our way back Frank took us to the den sight of 1109F and 907F when they denned in Crystal. The holes are still in the dirt there. 3.77-mile hike and we took our time for three hours. I saw a bull moose at Lower Baronette Pullout this afternoon. That pullout was good for moose in the early morning, once having four moose in there. I go by there in the morning so do not see the moose since it is still dark. The wolves were still near the carcass this morning at daylight. Our high count was twelve blacks and both grays, missing one black today. They slowly moved east and then into the Lamar River Corridor where they disappeared, going to the south. Frank H called with two grizzlies on or near the cow bison carcass from yesterday. One was a large grizzly with a little color around its middle. It moved off to the east and in view on and off for fifteen minutes. The second was a dark smaller grizzly who moved away to the west and in view for only a few minutes. Then Marisa de F found a small colorful grizzly in the tree line east of the carcass. I believe it was the two and one-half year-old light colored Ski Slope sub adult. It was in view for a minute, but others saw in moving up the Ski Slope hill a little later. Soon after that I found a large dark grizzly moving east near the Chalcedony Fan. It was in view for about fifteen minutes. We assume all were around the area because of the cow bison carcass. The carcass had no wolves or bears on it for the rest of the day.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Marisa de F, Wendy B, Dan and Laurie L, and Bucket Bob J. From Michigan: Denise M. From California: Glenda M and Kathie L. From Missouri: Frank H. From Colorado: Mark and Carol R. From Utah: Charlie M. From Texas: Carl L and Carol S. From North Dakota: Sandy H. From Washington: David and Stephanie O. And from South Dakoka: Phillip H. Bear Watchers: From California: Tanvir S. From Colorado: Rick and Tanner H. From Wyoming; Tom H and Terri W. From Montana: Cam H, Doug M, Chuck W, Debble H, her son Matt, and daughter Sarah. From Oregon: Michael O. And from Minnesota: Matt T. Others seen this report: From Montana: Audra C, Michael S, Grant J, Matt D, Keith V, Hunter G, Jayden A, MacNeil L, Mike S and Amanda E. From Washington: Aaron M. And from the Netherlands: Jort V and girlfriend.
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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