This morning the sky is clear and I find no snow on the car. It’s a normal 28 degrees at 5:30AM

My first stop is at Slough, where I immediately find three black wolves bedded in the den area, including the alpha male. Paul tells me the “brown pants” bear was chased away just before I arrived.

I see the bear ambling through the diagonal forest, heading east.

At 7AM I am delighted to see 907F for the first time since Tuesday!

She comes out of the sage den and heads quickly down to the spring meadow to take a drink. The alpha male gets up and walks down to her there. She wags her tail at him, and they circle a bit. He lowers his head and feeds her. He’s such a good guy!

She gobbles up her meal and quickly returns to the den.

We all comment that she looks good, definitely slimmer than she was. I also note that she seems quite calm.

A little later, the other two blacks (one collared, the other not) get up and descend towards the flats, via the lion meadow. They move with purpose, as though they know where they are going.

At the same time, a grizzly sow with two 3-year-olds are spotted west of the den area. And Michael finds a different grizzly, very dark (not brown-pants) roaming near the Horizontal Forest.

Celia, Krisztina and I pack up and head to Bob’s. Unfortunately we find the brutal wind waiting for us!

Once I set up, I locate the grizzly family to the west and then Michael’s dark grizzly to the east. But I get a big surprise when I spot a wolf! In fact, there are two wolves here in the flats, 1477F and 1479F.

They are right at the edge of the creek, partially hidden by thick willows. It looks like they are feeding on a carcass.

I see just enough of the remains to deem it an elk. Then we see another wolf, a gray (1478F) a bit to the right. Somone else spots an uncollared black bedded further right of her.

Bob’s Knob is legendary for its frequent wind, but todays is just awful, much worse than last night. The three of us resort to taking turns watching the action while the other two turn around to give our faces a break. The one facing the wind relates to the others what is happening.

An uncollared black wolf finishes first and begins to climb the lion meadow, when suddenly the local coyotes start to chase the wolf. Three coyotes become four and they put on an impressive display of cooperative behavior. One speeds up while another drops out, then a second takes over from that one, like an Olympic relay team!

The poor wolf’s tail could not be tucked any further, as it is chased all the way across the flats to the trailhead and back again. Eventually the wolf escapes with no harm other than a bruised ego.

While the black is being chased, 1479 and another black make their way safely back to the den area. Near the carcass we see a bald eagle and a single turkey vulture, as well as sandhills, geese and ducks.

1478F gets up to take her turn at the carcass a while. When she finishes, she takes a very slow journey back up, stopping every 3 steps or so.

We are still taking turns avoiding the harsh wind, but once 1478 reaches the spring meadow, we know we can see all these wolves from the road, where there is far less wind. So we make our exit.

Shortly after we get back to the roadside, 907 makes another appearance from the sage den. This time she sits just east of it for a minute or so, then ambles down for another drink. She’s out maybe 10 minutes. No one feeds her this time but I note she seems very relaxed.

Very likely she knows that food is close.

The black that was chased by the coyotes passes 907, taking a very submissive posture, and almost seems to be trying to avoid her!

Around 10AM I head back east, driving through a squall of corn snow. Boy, it sure is chilly for May!

I stay in again tonight to try to help poor Laurie. She and Dan will fly to San Diego tomorrow, while I’ve decided to stay at least one more day. I didn’t know it at the time, but I picked the right 24 hours to stay in Yellowstone.

Dan makes a fire tonight and we have a really nice evening.

Today I saw: 5 grizzly bears (including 2 cubs), bison, coyotes, sandhill cranes, a bald eagle, elk, geese, pronghorn, a turkey vulture, 6 Junction wolves (including Alpha male, 907F, 1478F, 1479F and two more blacks) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.