Yellowstone National Park 2024 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
1 through 4 June 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
~ June 2024 ~
June 1st - Saturday
30 degrees this morning warming up to a nice 70 degrees. I had a THREE DOG DAY (coyote, fox, wolf) today. I saw a badger kit at the badger den near Hitching Post, however, the mom was run over so not sure of the kits (total of 3) future. I had a bull moose at Pebble Creek today. I saw my first mountain goat kid of the year and my first bighorn sheep lamb of the year today. Two harlequin male ducks in the Soda Butte Creek viewed from Footbridge Pullout. I watched the coyote den on Dead Puppy Hill. I saw three of the five puppies today. At 5:35 a.m. John G found a grizzly hunting elk calves in Secret Passage. Terri W watched for an hour, but the grizzly was not successful. At 5:45 a.m. we had a large black bear grazing on Middle Ridge. At 5:50 a.m. we had a black bear in sight in Secret Passage. At 6:20 a.m. we had a cinnamon black bear viewed north of Picnic Pullout. At 6:30 a.m. Margaret L found a grizzly digging on the #3 finger on Norris. I got there just in time as when the sun rises the viewing for the fingers is terrible for an hour or so, as we have to look directly into the sun. At 6:45 a.m. Randi M. found the Specimen Ridge #26 on the bear chart family with two cubs of the year on Bear Meadow. The family is definitely moving to the east which means only a few more sightings. The grizzlies do this every year moving east for better stuff to eat and eventually move out of sight for us from the road. At 7:45 a.m. the grizzly sow Druid Peak #7 on bear chart was seen with her three yearlings north of Coyote. I missed them as they were out of sight from Coyote when I got there but did see them by going to Lamar Canyon East. At 8:40 a.m. Kate J, Silver Gate Guides, found the 3 1/2-year-old female sub adult (actually Middle Ridge #27 on bear chart last litter) south in Little America. At 8:55 a.m. the grizzly family Middle Ridge sow #27 on bear chart with her three cubs of the year seen on the skyline to the south in Little America. At 9:15 a.m. I found the Ski Slope grizzly sow (not on bear chart) with one cub of the year on Ski Slope. At 10:30 a.m. The Footbridge #34 on bear chart grizzly sow with only two remaining cubs of the year seen in the Soda Butte Valley. Reports yesterday from Steve M as he saw the lone cub of the year crossing the road south to north at Soda Butte Valley. So, one of the three is lost and on its own. At 4:30 p.m. Kevin and Barb B watched a grizzly digging near the skyline north of Coyote Overlook for over an hour. At 5:30 p.m. I found a small colorful grizzly digging north of Picnic Pullout. At 5:55 p.m. we had two black bears grazing on K-2 Meadow.
June 2nd - Sunday
37 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to 65 degrees. Three harlequin male ducks in view in the creek at Footbridge Pullout. Today I watched four of the five coyote puppies at their den on Dead Puppy Hill. I hiked with Kathie L, John G, and Frank H to the top of all three Peregrine Hills in Little America, Rick and Maureen B hiked with us most of the way. At 5:40 a.m. Frank H report 1478F a two-year old female gray wolf was near the den at Slough. At 6:20 a.m. two large black bears seen south of Fisherman's Pullout. At 7:00 a.m. the grizzly sow with one yearling was seen just across the Soda Butte Creek from Footbridge. They were around that area today and Bill L had them cross the road to the north towards the end of the day. At 7:45 a.m. I found an uncollared gray wolf and a black wolf traveling separately to the west south of Picnic Pullout. Not sure if these were Junction Butte or Mollies wolves. At 8:00 a.m. Randi M found the grizzly sow with one cub of the year again on the top of Ski Slope. At 8:20 a.m. the grizzly sow with now only two cubs of the year seen in the Soda Butte Valley. At 8:30 a.m. I found a colorful grizzly digging in a low part of Druid Peak. At 10:25 a.m. the grizzly sow with three cubs of the year again near the skyline on Specimen ridge. At 2:00 p.m. the lone cub of the year grizzly was seen crossing the road south to north of the road near Hitching Post, unfortunately the sow and two other cubs were now south of the road by a mile east of where the lone cub of the year crossed to the north. At 2:30 p.m. we had a large black bear on K Meadow. At 5:15 p.m. a black bear sow with one cinnamon yearling cub was spotted by Mike and Donna F near the tree line in the old Druid Rendezvous area. At 5:40 p.m. the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year seen further east then yesterday two ridges behind Bear Meadow. I do not think we will get too many more sightings of this family.
June 3rd - Monday
49 degrees in Silver Gate this morning warming up to only 63 degrees with late morning and afternoon showers. At 5:15 a.m. John G and I found a dark grizzly eating on something in the tall sagebrush northeast of Coyote Overlook. It finished soon after we spotted it and moved over the ridge and out of sight. At 7:15 a.m. I got a quick view of the grizzly sow with one yearling northeast of Picnic going up a deep ravine, they were not seen again. At 7:45 a.m. I found a courting pair of grizzlies north of the Institute, these were in sight for about thirty minutes and lots of people got to watch them dig and move over the hill and out of sight. At 7:40 a.m. Gary G called with a large black bear in the clearing behind the east end of Jasper Bench. At 8:00 a.m. Frank H riding in his car past Picnic pullout noticed a lot of bison circled up and running. He stopped and found the Mollies wolfpack back in Lamar. I counted five grays and two black wolves this morning from Trashcan Hill. However, Paul H climbed up higher and had five grays and three blacks. They soon bedded and were still in view at least until noon sleeping. At 9:00 a.m. Gary G found the K-3 grizzly sow with two cubs of the year now on K-2 Meadow. Really good viewing despite the light. They were in view for a long time. At 9:30 a.m. Gail and Julie from Utah showed us the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year on Penny Lane. This is the sow that lost the three cubs of the year who was not seen today off by itself. Great viewing from Hitching Post as the sow with two cubs of the year on Penny Lane were in view at the same time as the grizzly with two cubs of the year on K-2 and even the Mollies wolves could be seen bedded across the Lamar River. At 11:15 a.m. we had a large black bear grazing in another part of the K-2 Meadow. At 1:15 p.m. I showed a few people a black Junction Butte wolf near the Slough Den. At 3:20 p.m. we had a courting pair of grizzlies actually mating just east of Cooke City.
June 4th - Tuesday
40 degrees this morning in Silver Gate warming up to 63 degrees with a cold afternoon wind. Randi M and I went down to look at the great horned owl nest down near the bathroom at the trailhead for the Slough Creek Walk. Only the one chick in the nest at the time. Last night we had heavy thunder, wind, and rain. Today the Soda Butte Picnic area was closed because of high water. The Soda Butte Creek is very high making the Lamar River very high and both creek and river are now brown in color. At 5:15 a.m. John G found the grizzly family with three yearlings high to the northeast of Coyote Overlook. They were spread out hunting elk calves and we had them in view for about fifteen minutes. At 5:35 a.m. after hearing a combined wolf and coyote howling session, we found the Mollies wolf pack south of Fisherman's Pullout in Lamar Valley. Only in sight for ten minutes or so before they went over the top of the Northern Divide Ridge near the Split Rock. I heard they appeared near Crystal Rock viewed from the Slough Creek side then traveled south going over Specimen Ridge and out of sight. My count was five grays and two blacks but Paul H, wolf watcher, counted five grays and three blacks. At 6:10 a.m. from the Institute Randi M made a great spot on the Specimen Ridge sow with two cubs of the year high above Bear Meadow. We watched and later shared the spotting slopes with tourists. Even at that long range they were backlite by the snow for a while for good viewing. Later they moved out into the Bear Meadow for closer and better viewing. At 6:30 a.m. a black bear was seen in the ridge behind Bear Meadow. At 6:40 a.m. I found a grizzly family on the west end of K Meadow viewed from Picnic Pullout. It turned out to be the K-3 sow with two cubs of the year that were seen yesterday on K-2 Meadow. This family is moving quite a bit for having cubs of the year. At 6:50 a.m. Gary G found a grizzly north of Picnic on the skyline. It looked great backlite on the blue sky this morning. At 8:00 a.m. after hearing that the Ski Slope grizzly sow with one cub of the year was in view, we found it from Footbridge. Moving down to Picnic Pullout then to the Institute we watched the grizzly sow with one cub of the year that Doug M (bear watcher) had located earlier. At 9:00 a.m. there was a large bear jam at Footbridge Pullout. After finding a parking place we watched the Footbridge sow with now only two cubs of the year on an elk carcass the sow had just taken. This was just across the river and past the trail but below Dead Puppy Hill the viewing was good for well over an hour. At 2:45 p.m. while looking at the golden eagle nest from the Gravel Pullout someone said they had two grizzlies high in the meadow east of the Slough Den. It appeared to be two three-and-one-half-year-old cubs that must have been thrown out when the sow mated earlier. They were together a lot but often moved separately before coming together to dig.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Wendy B, Carolyn G, and Janice and Cindy H. From Oregon: Bruce and Kelly H. From Missouri: Frank H. From Utah: Paul H and David F. From California: Kathie L. From Colorado: Steve and Robin M. From New York: Rick and Maureen B. From Tennessee Terry and Betty C. And From Illinois: Sandy and Ken H. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Washington: Randi M and John G. From Mississippi: Gary G. From Wyoming: Terri W, Rita R, and Kevin M. From Tennessee: Mike and Donna F. From Illinois: Mike G and his cousin Bill. From Pennsylvania: Scott P. From Colorado: Rick and Tanner H. From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Montana: Doug M, Mike and Kathy W, and Margaret L. From: Alabama: Tom D and Family. From Ohio: Tim and Kerri O. From California: Jim and Amber H. From Idaho: Terry and Marsha J, and Jennings and Carma J. And From Utah: Chris B and members of the family, Gail and Julie, Ed and Sara S, Kevin and Pam A and David F. Others seen this report: From Montana: Kate J, Hunter G, Michael S, Nate U, Bob L, Cliff B, MacNeil L, Mike S, Evan S, Brandon N, Quinn H Cliff B and Scott B. From California: Carol B and Tim Z. From the Netherlands: Jort V. From Florida: Bill L. From Idaho: Tanner P and Allie. From Vermont: John K. And From: Wisconsin: John E.
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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