I start the day at 6:20 with 21 degrees and a bit of wind.

There are fresh tracks in the snow along the road. At least one fox and perhaps some mule deer.

At Thunderer the snow begins to lessen.

As I near Little America, Jeff calls from Hellroaring. Nothing here but some potential to the west.

I keep driving. The snow continues through Little America and the Blacktail, but visibility is ok in most of the areas where we normally see wolves.

I visit with the Junction crew at North Butte. Their wolves are again on Hell Mountain, 5 miles away. Visibility is not good enough right now to see them.

The wind here is insane. I turn my car around and use my hatch as a wind block. John W and I have coffee and try to converse, but we can barely hear each other!

After a while of enduring these conditions, I head back east, stopping at Hellroaring. There’s no wind here and the visibility is decent, but we find no wolves to watch. Only bison.

I drive back east, trying to comfort myself. I’ve been so lucky to see so many wolves in my life, at this point I am content to be patient and wait until there are better conditions.

At Confluence I get lucky with otters. They are frolicking west of the pullout, so I turn around and drive back, stopping in the road behind another car. I can see them with binocs – it’s the mom and two pups, diving and popping up in the thin fog rising from the river.

They are just delightful and help me forget my wolfless day.

I also see the Baronette fox on my way back.

Today I saw: bison, coyotes, elk, a fox, 3 otters and the spirits of Allison, Richard and Jeff