Yellowstone National Park 2024 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
28 through 31 May 2024
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 2024 ~
May 28th - Tuesday
33 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to a nice 77 degrees. I hiked past the beaver ponds in Crystal Drainage and up on top Crystal Rock today with friends. I had two bull moose at Pebble Creek tonight on the way back to Silver Gate. At 5:15 a.m. Gary G had a grizzly hunting near #9's old den viewed from Slough Creek Restroom. I had a THREE DOG DAY (coyote, fox, wolf) today. At 5:40 a.m. Hayden G found a grizzly in the high clearing to the east of the Slough Den. At 5:40 a.m. 1479F, the two-year-old black yearling, made an appearance at the Slough Den. At 6:00 a.m. Randi M found the grizzly sow with three yearlings low just behind the barn. A brief sighting and we did not see them again until the evening. At 6:10 a.m. a black wolf was seen traveling west towards the old Druid Rendezvous area. At 6:15 a.m. a grizzly digging in the inverted triangle below Druid Peak. At 6:45 a.m. Bruce P showed me a younger grizzly at the Confluence. At 7:00 a.m. a grizzly was digging in a clearing east of Druid Peak. At 7:15 a.m. Hayden spotted a grizzly in a meadow just east of Druid Peak. At 7:40 a.m. the grizzly with three cubs of the year were again just off the road east of the Confluence. Another big jam with people behaving badly, and later the family crossed the road to the north. At 8:00 a.m. two black and one gray wolf as well as one black puppy moving around the Slough Den area. At 9:25 a.m. Randi M found the grizzly sow with one cub of the year on the east flank of Ski Slope. They were in and out of view for quite a while. At 10:00 a.m. a cinnamon black was seen east of Picnic Pullout. At 1:40 p.m. Paul H found the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year on Middle Ridge. The sow was quite active hunting for elk calves, but the elk won today. At 2:50 p.m. a black bear sow with two cinnamon yearling cubs had the Lamar Canyon backed up at the traffic for a bit. At 3:45 p.m. Kevin and Barb B showed me the grizzly sow with her one yearling cub in the willows south of Footbridge Pullout. At 6:00 p.m. Hayden G found a medium sized grizzly digging in the Bowl. At 6:15 p.m. Hayden G found a small cinnamon black bear in the A-Z Meadow. At 6:55 p.m. several people told me about a nice sized grizzly on Druid Peak with a bright blond Yellowstone Stripe around its mid-section.
May 29th - Wednesday
43 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 62 degrees. A new badger den at Hitching Post today and I saw all three of the kits. Gary G showed me an antelope doe with two new fawns today. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 5:05 a.m. Gary found the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year (coy) on Middle Ridge, they were in sight a lot today. At 5:15 a.m. Frank called with a black wolf near the Slough Creek den. At 5:40 a.m. Hayden G found the grizzly with three cubs of the year on Specimen Ridge, well, had to wait for them to move as they were all in a ball, finally they got up and we got the count of three coys. At 6:30 a.m. Rita R found a grizzly possibly on an elk calf carcass north of Picnic Pullout. At 6:35 a.m. Hayden G found grizzly low below the Moosehead from Trashcan Pullout. At 7:00 a.m. Gary G found a small sub adult grizzly in the Bowl. At 7:05 a.m. Hayden found the second small sub adult in the Bowl. These two sometimes spend time together and sometimes off on their own, today they were together. At 7:20 a.m. I found the grizzly sow with one cub of the year on the east flank of Ski Slope. This coy is always running around and playing with himself. At 7:40 a.m. we had two black bears in the tree line south of Hubbard Hill, perhaps a courting pair because of the size difference. At 8:55 a.m. Randi M found two grizzlies high northeast of Lamar Canyon West and the grizzlies were above the Institute. At 9:15 a.m. Hayden G found a grey wolf northeast of Lamar Canyon East. At 9:55 a.m. Hayden G found a black bear on the west end of K Meadow. At 10:00 a.m. Hayden G found a courting pair of grizzlies high on Norris viewed from Hubbard Hill. At 1:00 p.m. a bear jam with the grizzly sow with three cubs of the year northeast of Footbridge. At 3:10 p.m. returning from shower day I found a grey looking grizzly digging just east of Cooke City. At 5:30 p.m. Wayne K found a new family for us bear watchers, a grizzly sow with two cubs of the year in K-3 viewed from Footbridge Pullout. At 6:10 p.m. Paul H told us where to look at the grizzly sow with three yearlings north of the Institute.
May 30th - Thursday
36 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 51 degrees. I had a moose at Soda Butte Picnic today. I had a THREE DOG DAY today. At 5:20 a.m. Frank H called with wolves near the den, I counted two black and two gray wolves and one black puppy. The wolf watchers had all the pups again today, two black and one gray. At 5:35 a.m. I found a medium sized grizzly digging high above the Slough den. At 5:55 a.m. Doug M (bear watcher) found a group of grizzlies bedded on Middle Ridge. We suspected they were the grizzly with two cubs of the year, and an hour later they got up and moved and they were the sow with two cubs of the year. At 6:15 a.m. I found two large grizzlies digging north of Coyote Overlook, not sure of the make-up, perhaps a courting pair. At 6:30 a.m. Doug M (bear watcher) found the grizzly with three yearlings high to the north of the Institute. At 7:10 a.m. John G found the grizzly with two cubs of the year on K-3 Meadow, they were digging again with the two cubs mainly playing and wrestling. At 7:20 a.m. Gary G found two grizzlies on Norris but disappeared quickly. I was lucky enough to fine them and they were the grizzly sow with one yearling cub. At 8:20 a.m. a large bear jam in the Soda Butte Valley. It was a grizzly with two cubs of the year. This was the one that had three yesterday morning, but last night others saw only two cubs of the year. The reason is usually another grizzly usually a boar but will never know unless the body is found. At 8:50 a.m. Randi M found the grizzly sow with one cub of the year on the east flank of Ski Slope. At 9:20 a.m. Paul B told me that he had just spotted a grizzly with two cubs of the year high north of Pebble Creek Campground. He gave great instructions and when I arrived I had them in a minute or two. One of the two cubs had a lot of trouble walking around, falling once. We suspected an injury. Note: on May 31st I saw the family again and the cub looked much better. I hope to see them in the future to check on the second cub. That was the last new grizzly sighting for today, twenty-three different grizzlies by 9:20 a.m. Lots of thanks for the bear watchers who found them all and allowed me to watch them. At 10:55 a.m. we had a cinnamon black bear southeast of Footbridge Pullout. At 11:35 a.m. we watched a black bear sow with two cinnamon cubs of the year on the east side of Square Meadow. At 1:30 p.m. we had a cinnamon black bear with two cinnamon cubs of the year in the tree line south of Long Pullout in Little America. At 1:35 p.m. I spotted a large black bear south of Aspen Pullout.
May 31st - Friday
37 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 65 degrees with a light wind. I had two bull moose grazing northwest of Trout Lake today. At 5:20 a.m. I found a colorful grizzly digging in the ravine east of the Slough Den. I thought a smaller grizzly but looked a lot bigger when it got into shorter grass. Others said later that it started hunting for elk calves so must have picked up a scent. At 5:40 a.m. I found a black bear viewed on Specimen Ridge. At 6:25 a.m. we had two black bears southeast of Amethyst Bench. At 6:35 a.m. Gary G found a large cinnamon black bear north of Trashcan Pullout, pretty close. Others thought a grizzly, but it was not. At 7:25 a.m. Jeremy S told me a grizzly was northwest of Trout Lake. I headed that way and was delighted to see the grizzly sow now with only two cubs of the year. They were four hundred yards or so from the highway but seemed content to stay close for the people to see. At 7:40 a.m. I found a medium sized grizzly high north of Picnic. Backlit by the sun it was an impressive grizzly. At 8:00 a.m. I found a smaller colorful grizzly about one half mile west of the other grizzly. At 9:00 a.m. Joe K called with a grizzly in Little America. It turned out to be the 3 1/2-year-old female sub adult grizzly on the south side of the road. It has been a few days, when she was on the carcass near Boulder Pullout since I have seen her. At 9:20 a.m. I heard of a courting pair of grizzlies on Specimen Ridge viewed from Slough Creek. They were grizzlies but were the two sub adult grizzlies that from time to time hang together and other times go their separate ways. At 9:45 a.m. Randi M found the grizzly sow with one cub of the year on Ski Slope. They were in sight a long time today. At 10:20 a.m. I found the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year. They had moved from Middle Ridge to the Southern Divide Ridge. Not good viewing as the Southern Divide Ridge is mostly sagebrush making viewing the two cubs difficult. At 11:00 a.m. we had a black bear high north of the Institute. At 3:45 p.m. I found the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year again high north of the Pebble Creek Campground. I headed for Silver Gate to type this trip report, but the second cub looked pretty good today.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Wendy B, Kriztina G, Jeremy S, Janice and Cindy H, Josh A, Russ K and Carolyn G. From Missouri: Frank H. From New York: Rick and Maureen B. From Wyoming: Dale and Fay B. From California: Kathie L, From Arizona: Matt L, From Colorado: Steve and Robin M, and From Vermont: Joanne H. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Utah: Paul H and Hayden G. From Washington: John G and Randi M, From Mississippi: Gary G, From Illinois: Wayne K, and Mike G. From: Montana: Doug M, Jeff and Val B, Jeff B and Kathy M, and Mike and Kathy W. From Wyoming: Kevin M, Terri W, Rita R, Jim G, Gene B, and Paul B. From South Carolina: Margaret P. From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Minnesota: Kevin and Barb B. From Colorado: Rick and Tanner H. And from Tennessee: Mike and Donna F. Others seen this report: From Montana: Mike S, Quinn H, Michael S, Cliff B, Bob L, Pete B, MacNeil L, Evan S, Kate J, and Hunter G. From California: Tim Z. From Florida: Bill L. From Washington: Aaron M, and Matt P. From Vermont: John K. From the Netherlands: Jort V and girlfriend Shennan M.
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
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Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park
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