Well, we are back from our week in Yellowstone, and we set another record for the Uhler Family. We had a great time, the weather was too good to be true, the best we have ever had on an early spring visit. We saw more wildlife than we had planned on and we are not complaining. Here is how our trip went.

We left home about 2:00 pm Friday afternoon - 31 May 96. We arrived at the Three Bear Lodge about 7:30 pm and checked into our room. We walked around West Yellowstone and just unwound from our drive.

01 June 96 - Saturday

My son Joseph and I went into the park and tried our hands at fly fishing. This was the first time for both of us rookies. We fished the Madison, the Firehole and the Gibbon Rivers. We had a few strikes but we did not catch anything, but we had fun trying and just being together. That evening, we drove up and fished Slough Creek.

While in Lamar Valley, we saw three grizzly bears, two black bears, a bald eagle, antelope, elk and buffalo. It was a great day. On the south side of Lamar Valley, we watched two grizzlies playing in the snow high up on the mountain side. They would both stand up on their hind feet and wrap their front legs around each other and wrestle in the snow. They were just running and sliding and playing, it was fun to watch. As the group of us were watching the bears and talking, all of the sudden a large very dark grizzly came running out on the hillside behind us. He or she was stalking an elk. We watched as he caught an elk calf and then left it as he walked over the crest of the hill. We moved down the valley a little to see what this bear was up to. He then came over the next ridge top and stalked another elk calf. He did not eat either calf, he just killed them and then went out of our sight over a ridge top. We were sure that he would be back to finish up on the kills or someone else would take care of them as nothing is wasted in Lamar. As we watched the bears play in the snow, a family from Louisiana stopped and asked what we were looking at? When we told them they got all excited, they had never seen a grizzly before so we let them check out the bears as they played. They were thrilled - parents and grandparents, we were excited for them also.

02 June 96 - Sunday

We got up, packed the car, checked out of our room and went to church. We had lunch in West Yellowstone and then slowly made our way up to Mammoth. We stayed at the Mammoth cabins for the rest of our trip. The road from Madison to Mammoth is bad bad bad! I guess they will work on it next year or the year after..... They did or were working on filling the pot holes or craters, so instead of driving into them, now you have to drive over or around them! So be warned and beware. We checked in at Mammoth and moved our gear into the cabin. A lawn mower (buffalo) came by and trimmed the grass and chewed on a small pine tree in front of our cabin. We then headed out towards Lamar. We stopped at the Calcite Cliff overlook and took some pictures. Next we went to see the petrified tree that is about .5 of a mile east of the Roosevelt/Tower Junction. There just happen to be three large bull moose in the valley below the tree. We watched them for a while as they walked, ate and laid down to rest. Joseph and I then took a two mile hike in Lamar. We then went to the turnout in Lamar and watched a sow grizzly and her three large cubs (probably close to two years old). We saw - four grizzly bears, three moose, antelope, elk, buffalo, ducks, geese and a lot of gophers. Another good day!

03 June 96 - Monday

In the morning Joseph and I toured Mammoth Hot Springs. There were elk lying in the one of the hot springs that was a great photo op, I hope they turn out! Joseph picked up his Junior Ranger application at the Albright Visitors Center. We then drove out to the Children's Fire Trail and walked through the area. We saw some very pretty birds and other wildlife there. We stopped at Blacktail Lakes and saw - a sandhill crane on it's nest, pied-billed grebe, Wilson's phalarope and some others that I will have to identify when I get my pictures back. On our trip, we also saw yellow-headed black birds, red-winged black birds, grackles, sparrows, common ravens, trumpeter swans, Canada geese, mountain bluebirds, robins, red-tailed hawks, steller jays, black-billed magpies, tree swallows, and a western meadowlark, and others. We saw three moose on our drive through Lamar valley to the northeast entrance. We saw the moose on our drive from Pebble Creek campgrounds to the entrance. That evening, we went to the second turnout past the Specimen Ridge trail sign and sat up our scope and started glassing the mountain sides for bears and wolves. We were with a group of fellow wildlife watchers, some we knew from last year and it was good to see them again and share stories and parts of our lives. Ranger Rick McIntyre was there and we were filled in on what was happening with the wolves. We saw some bighorn sheep on the hillside. We had seen one black bear near the Yellowstone bridge as we drove in that evening. The local Roosevelt workers call her Rosie, she has three small spring cubs, we did not see the cubs.

We also got a glimpse of a black bear as it walked up and over a ridge. Two grizzlies came into view and we watched as they killed an elk calf for dinner. Just then Ranger Rick mentioned that this was possibly a good sign as it may give the wolves a reason to show up. Just as he finished stating that, five wolves of the Rose Creek pack appeared and challenged the bears for the kill. The bears would move the kill and chase the wolves off, but they came right back. Three of the wolves would go in and snip at the bears heels, and the bears would give chase as the other two wolves would slip in and take the kill. The grizzlies would wheel around when they saw what was going on and take their meal back. The bears just hunkered down and finished off their meal and then the wolves moved in and ate what little was left. The wolves consisted of one gray and four black wolves. The wolves were much faster than the grizzlies and they just harassed and teased the bears until they had enough and just walked off. It was fantastic to watch the interaction of the bears and wolves! We were all thrilled with our experience and went to our various places of abode in awe with being able to have shared this encounter. Great day!

04 June 96 - Tuesday

We got up early and headed out towards Lamar valley. We saw a nice black bear on an elk kill about a mile west of Hellroaring. We took some pictures and video. It was right by the side of the road, maybe 75 yards off the road in a little clearing. The bear and the kill were just inside the tree line. We saw this bear in the morning and in the evening. We saw three grizzlies in Lamar in the morning - a sow and two cubs up on the top of the mountain as they (the cubs) walked along playing. We watched them from the second turnout in Lamar as you are headed east into the valley. From the same turnout where we had witnessed the bear and wolf encounter, we saw nine of the Rose Creek pack run across the mountain side and over the ridge as they went to another area to hunt for food. It was great to see them all, but it was a quick sighting and fleeting moment. But an exciting moment to see just about the whole pack. We also were able to see Rosie near the Yellowstone bridge (just past the Roosevelt/Tower Junction - heading east towards Silver Gate), and her three spring cubs. What a thrill! This was the first time we had seen newborn spring cubs. Rosie was eating an elk calf and we couldn't find the cubs, when all of the sudden we saw something moving in the tree above Rosie. Down came the three cubs, playing and rolling around, chewing on the kill a little and wrestling and tumbling all over. Rosie moved off the kill a little and the cubs walked over and nursed for a short while and then they were up and at it again. They then headed up the hillside and wandered out of sight. Another great day for watching wildlife and appreciating nature. Joseph finished all the requirements for his Junior Ranger program. We went to the Ranger Wildlife Campfire program at the Mammoth Campgrounds amphitheater. It was very well done and capped off a great day! We saw - three grizzlies, four black bears, nine wolves, mule deer, antelope, elk, buffalo. red-tailed hawk and an osprey.

05 June 96 - Wednesday

We got up early and headed into Lamar valley. From the second turnout in Lamar we spotted five grizzlies and one black bear. Joseph and I hiked the Hellroaring trail and had a great time. The spring flowers are blooming and the hillsides and meadows were beautiful. We took some pictures of the wild flowers and will add them to the page. We also hiked to Wraith Falls, which is a nice .5 mile hike through the country side. We attended a Ranger program on old fort Yellowstone at Mammoth. Joseph and I went into the Albright Visitors Center where he presented his finished Junior Ranger program to the ranger who had done the wildlife program the night before. She went over the program with Joseph. She then called for everyone's attention and informed everyone that Joseph had finished the Junior Ranger program and made an official presentation of his Junior Ranger patch. Joseph was thrilled and I was proud of him! Now we have to get him a shirt to put his patch on. Another great day in Yellowstone. We saw - five grizzlies, one black bear, antelope, mule deer, buffalo and elk.

06 June 96 - Thursday

We were up early and headed out to Lamar valley. We spotted one grizzly from our usual spot in Lamar. There were a few couples there watching the griz with us. As we were scanning the mountain sides, a couple who had been with us earlier returned with news that the wolves had been spotted and were now in the Slough (slew) Creek area. Joseph and I jumped into our car and headed to Slough Creek. We drove down the Slough Creek campground road to the first turnout on the left. There was a small group of fellow Yellowstoners there with binoculars, spotting scopes and cameras. We joined in the excitement. There had been four wolves out just before we had arrived, now there was only one visible. It was a very good sighting. We could see the wolves without the binoculars or scopes, not real well but we could watch it. With the binoculars and scopes it was just fantastic to watch it chew on a kill, walk around the country side and come down to Slough Creek and get a drink. We watched it for over an hour. After it had disappeared over a small rise, another wolf appeared on a distant hillside and we all watched it as it made it's way up and over a distant mountain ridge. These two wolves were also from the Rose Creek pack. It just happened that at all the wolf sightings there was either Ranger Rick or another wolf expert there to tell us which pack they were from and what was going on with the packs at the time. These were both black wolves. It was thrilling to see them so close, relatively speaking and to watch them for so long.

In the afternoon we went to West Yellowstone for a visit and then to Midway geyser basin to see the hot springs and geyser activity. It is a nice area, but we will have to go back and see it from the mountain side just to the west of the area. The Grand Prismatic pool is spectacular, but the best way to see it is from a distance. Joseph fished a little on the Madison and then we headed back to Mammoth. In the evening we went back to Slough Creek to see what was going on with the wildlife. We spotted one grizzly on the back side of Specimen Ridge. We met some really nice people everyday. But this day we met some individuals who are directly involved with the Park Service to help with the wolf program. We met Barry O'Neill, a professional photographer who is directly involved with the wolf restoration program. He and some other interested individuals have setup "Call Of The Wild Foundation" to help the park service to maintain the wolf program since funding has been cut. They have put together a wolf sponsor program (adopt a wolf or pack program). This is a non-profit organization that all monies go back into the program, they are trying to help with the wolves any way they can. They buy the radio collars, help pay for movement of the wolves and many different things. I will be putting a page about them on my home page. Barry told me all kinds of info about the wolves, he and the other two individuals have been involved with the wolf program since the very beginning. I asked Barry about the one wolf that had been destroyed earlier this year. He gave me the background on the incident. "The wolf had gone about 40 miles north of the park and killed a sheep and possibly another - but a least one. The Wildlife Foundation paid for the two sheep. The couple who had lost the sheep were very good about the whole incident and helped in any way they could. The wolf was taken back to Lamar and put back into the pen for a period of time. He was then taken about 60 miles inside the park to an area that was quite remote from where he had been. When they were getting ready to turn him loose, Barry stepped off his snowmobile and sunk up to his armpits in snow. It took him about 15 minutes to extract himself and all his camera gear back onto the snowmobile. They turned the wolf loose. It only took the wolf six days to cover 100 miles and make it back to the farm and into the exact same sheep pen. They felt that their only choice was to put the wolf to down due to his quick return to the sheep. They had some real concerns about him picking up a mate and then showing his mate and offspring where they could get an easy meal. The decision was not an easy one and was made only after all avenues were explored." If you are interested in helping with the wolf program, or adopting/sponsoring a wolf or two or a pack, this will be the organization to contact. I will have all the info about them on my page this week.

In the evening, we returned to Slough Creek and spotted one grizzly. We listened to the coyotes howl, the geese honk and the elk call. We watched a beautiful sunset and enjoyed the closing of another Yellowstone day. We saw - two grizzlies, two wolves, three moose, antelope, elk, buffalo, beavers, coyotes and deer.

07 June 96 - Friday

We were up early and went to Slough Creek first thing in the morning. The elk and buffalo were all grazing contently in the mountain meadows and on the creek banks. Next we drove down into Lamar Valley to the second turnout. Again the elk, buffalo and antelope were all grazing contently. No wolves or bears. We then drove back to Mammoth and checked out of our cabin and since they finally opened the Canyon to Tower road we decided to drive it on our way out of the park and see if we could spot any bears on the way out of the park on our way home. The view from Mount Washburn was great, but again the elk and buffalo were all content in the shade or slowly grazing on the mountain sides and valleys. We headed for home with a new record for bears and wolves and a great appreciation for all the wildlife in Yellowstone and our new found friends. It was a great trip, the longest time I have ever spent in the park. I love it and I miss it!

Totals for this trip - 19 grizzlies, 9 black bears and 16 wolves along with all the other wildlife in Yellowstone.