I set off to the Park at 10:30AM on a cloudy day, with a pleasant temperature of 50 degrees.

The weather report calls for a lot of rain over the next few days, but am eager to see pups so I’ll take my chances.

It has now been confirmed that the Junction alpha female, 907F, has denned in the traditional location, which is great news for wolf watchers like me. My personal hope is for four pups this year: two black and two gray.

We’ll see what develops!

The mountains of Paradise Vally are shrouded in thick cloud. As I near Emmigrant, a light drizzle begins to fall. Half-way up the OGR, an ear-tagged bull elk in velvet grazes close to the road near Slide Lake, drawing several admirers.

Once I get east of Undine, I find a lot less green. The drizzle has ended but the day remains overcast.

I stop at Blacktail Ponds, as I’ve been told a bison carcass is visible here. It is common for bison to drown at this spot as the ice on the pond waxes and wanes during late March into April. What’s unusual this year is that although this carcass has been partially visible for several weeks not a single bears seems to have found it.

The bloated shape is easily seen from the lot right at the water’s edge. The only animals I see in the area, though, are geese and other waterbirds.

There are more and more pronghorn in view as I drive east, as far as North Butte.

There are a few small snow patches scattered throughout the Blacktail but nothing like it is in most years!

As I wind through the Phantom Lake area, I see a lot of cars stopped ahead. I find a spot to pull off and lift my binoculars. Aha! It’s a grizzly mom with two big cubs, grazing very close to the road at the east end of Phantom Lake.

I don’t need my scope; she’s close! But jams like this make me feel uncomfortable, so I don’t stay long.

The ice on Floating Island Lake is gone but everything around it is still brown. No green here, and way too early for yellow-headed blackbirds.

I stop at Petrified Tree where I see a large crowd has gathered. I’ve heard reports of black bears being seen here. In fact, seven of them! There are people in lawn chairs with cameras set up in various spots.

Apparently two sows, each with a pair of cubs, are being held hostage up in the trees by a single boar prowling below with romance on his mind. This stand-off has been going on for a day and a half.

A friendly visitor helps me locate the treed bears, in two separate lodgepole pines. I am amazed at how high up they are! I have seen plenty of black bear cubs in trees but never this high. The cubs perch in a notch of branches, while the sows are each a bit lower down, also in a notch, but still much higher up than I’ve ever seen an adult black bear.

All six seem to be sleeping. What else can they do except wait for the boar to leave?

I feel so sorry for the sows. If they venture down to mate with the boar, the cubs will likely follow. That will put them in immediate danger, because most boars will kill cubs if they have a chance.

So, both families are simply stuck up there. No food, no water.

I get a quick glimpse of the boar as he moves back and forth in thick brush below the base of the trees. He is cinnamon colored while both sows and all four cubs are dark.

I ask the people if he has made any attempt to climb either tree and they say no, at least not while they were looking. Although it’s somewhat educational, I don’t find it a pleasant sight. Nature can be cruel sometimes.

I continue east.

As I cruise through Little America I grin to hear the delightful sound of chorus frogs coming from various ponds. It’s a great “spring is coming” sound.

I see numerous pronghorn here, too, as well as plenty of bison. And I get stuck behind a few “Slo Goes” as well. ‘Tis the season.

I reach Slough around 2PM, where I happily check in with Frank, Paul and Bobby. They report having had a good morning with the Junctions, watching them chase an elk to the west.

Frank confirms 907 is still pregnant, that she came out of the sage den for a while to take a drink at the spring this morning, then went back in.

I see my first red dog (bison calf) at Slough in a small herd grazing the Lion Meadow.

I continue east. The water in Lamar Canyon is definitely higher than it was during my last visit. Most of the snow on the surrounding mountains has long since melted, except for the very highest peaks.

As I reach Lamar, I am happy to find it NOT crowded. Once I get east of Hitching Post the valley seems downright empty. Yay!

I find more snow remaining on Mt. Norris and all the eastern fingers.

It’s just before 4PM as I arrive at Laurie’s. When I hop out to unload, I hear a loud rumble. Avalanche! I grab my binocs. Wow! A huge volume of nearly liquid snow pours over three separate levels on the mountain east of Amphitheater.

The entire mass eventually piles up in an impossibly high cone-shaped mini-mountain below the third level. Wow!

I get inside and find that Laurie is watching it from her living room. As I continue to unload, three more avalanches occur, two on the western side of Amphitheater and then a repeat of the first one on the east side.

I’ve never seen them last so long!

We chat, relax and enjoy the evening. But before I go to bed, I hang the new shower curtain!

Today I saw: 7 black bears (including 4 cubs), 3 grizzly bears (including 2 cubs), bison, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.