Yellowstone National Park 2026 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
October 17th through 20th, 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 17th - Saturday
26 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 64 degrees out in the park this afternoon. An update on the limping coyote around Trashcan Pullout. Limpy or Tripod has not been seen since January of this year. Maybe the new group of five coyotes we often see in that area had something to do with that. Maybe it was just old, I hear it was nine years old. Dale and Fay G showed me four large bighorn rams in Slough Creek this afternoon. At 8:30 a.m. Phillip H found the Junction Butte wolves southeast of Trashcan Pullout. All the other wolf watchers had left the area searching in other areas. Phillip stayed at Trashcan Pullout for an hour and a half and it paid off. Today eleven blacks and both grays were seen. They were coming down the valley for forty minutes or so then disappeared into the tree line. Later, around 6:00 p.m. they all came out again for great viewing, traveling very slowly to the west. Not sure about the two missing. One was 1489M and the other an uncollared wolf. We worry since Unit 316 has an open tag to legally kill one wolf, which has not been filled yet. At 11:30 a.m. I came upon a bear jam north of Mary's Bay. A collared grizzly, apparently 1109M, was digging in a tall clearing viewed to the east.
October 18th - Sunday
31 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 69 degrees north of the park this afternoon. At 7:00 a.m. Michael S, Yellowstone Wolf Tracker, found a dark grizzly digging on Amethyst Bench. It was in view for thirty minutes or so with lots of people getting to see the grizzly especially since no wolves were in the valley. From 10:15 a.m. through 11:15 a.m. we watched a colorful large sub adult grizzly just south of Dunraven Pass. It was originally behind some trees only occasionally coming into view for us on the road and also for people on the Mount Washburn Trail. But it came out into view at about one hundred yards. Bear management was there watching the grizzly who just wanted to dig for roots and tubers. I ventured outside the northern end of the park tonight. I watched nine grizzlies: two sows with two cubs of the year each, a pair of larger light colored sub adults, and a lone large grizzly.
October 19th - Monday
38 degrees this morning outside the park to the north warming up to 70 degrees back in the park this afternoon. The loose horse was again in Slough Creek close to a bison herd. I again watched grizzlies north of the park. This morning, I watched three grizzlies: the pair of larger light-colored sub adults and the large grizzly from last evening. From 11:00 a.m. through 12:00 p.m. I watched a dark grizzly from Antelope Creek on the backside of Specimen Ridge in a clearing called Roof Top. It was digging all the time. At 12:15 p.m. I found a dark grizzly moving on the backside of Specimen Ridge viewed from Antelope Creek crossing south to north. It was walking slowly and in view for a long time.
October 20th - Tuesday
30 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 60 degrees out in the park this afternoon. The loose horse was again in Slough Creek and again close to a bison herd. I watched two pairs of trumpeter swans in Hayden Valley this morning: one set at Alum Creek and the other at Elk Antler Creek. At 8:45 a.m. I found a colorful grizzly from Antelope Creek on the backside of Specimen Ridge in a clearing called Roof Top. It was digging and in sight for a long time. This afternoon I stopped again and the grizzly was still in the clearing and digging away. At 9:45 a.m. the larger colorful sub adult grizzly was again about one hundred yards off the road just south of Dunraven Pass. Great views again this morning. At 10:40 a.m. passing the restroom on the lake just south of Mary's Bay I found a grizzly digging on the skyline. Melba C said it was Jam, a female that mated last year but did not have cubs. She did mate again this year, and we are expecting cubs of the year next spring. I heard about a carcass near Sylvan Pass, so I traveled that way. At Sylvan Lake, a small colorful grizzly found a cow elk carcass just on the opposite shoreline. It was busy covering the carcass with dirt and lumps of grass to prevent the smell of the carcass from spreading and attracting wolves or other bears. A really light-colored sub adult.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Jeff A, Jeff B, Janice and Cindy H, Wendy B, Patty and Stuard E, Randy T, and Dan and Laurie L. From Wyoming: Dale, Fay, and Mel B. From Missouri: Frank H. From South Dakota: Phillip H. From New York: Rick and Maureen B. From Tennessee: Stacy A. From France: Thaana van D. From Florida: Edd and Carrie P. From Idaho: Tom and Molly B. From Kansas: Calvin and Lynette J. From Oregon: Story W. And from Mississippi: Chuck and Wynelle M. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Montana: David B, Doug M, Jack G, and Jeff and Valeri B. Others seen the report: From Montana: Michael S, Mike S, Nate U, Dan and Cindy H, and Melba C.
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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