As I wind up the road in the dark, I suddenly see a snowshoe hare up ahead, actually running in circles in the road above me. Luckily, no one is behind me, so I stop.

The bunny sits in the road a few seconds, staring at me, then heads uphill to the south towards Kite Hill, Allison’s resting place. It dawns on me that I just had a “visit” from Chloe in the form of this hare.

On numerous Christmas visits past, as I would caravan with Becky and Chloe from the Super 8 to points east, we’d often see a snowshoe hare between the chapel and the high bridge.

I take it as a good omen.

I see Doug Mac at Nature Trail again, scoping with a few other early birds. Once again, we see only elk & bison.

I have to admit, strange as it is, I find it a real treat to drive on snow-free, dry roads in February!

I set up at Hellroaring and chat with a man named Steve, who has been guiding in Yellowstone for over 25 years. He has a single client with him, a young Japanese woman.

After a good half hour seeing only elk and bison, I pack up to leave. Suddenly Steve calls out. His client has just found wolves!

I re-set my scope and see two blacks. At first, it looks like both wolves are collared, so I assume they are two of the three we saw here yesterday.

They cross the snow-covered frozen pond east of the creek, then the creek itself. They come out below the basalt cliff, staying in view a good while.

This allows me time to study both wolves. The lead black has an indentation where a collar once was, but the collar itself is not present. Which means, I’m looking at 1386F! The larger wolf has a plain-to-see studded collar. Aha! This is her current beau, 1407M of Willow Creek.

1407M is quite a handsome wolf; dark black overall with a light muzzle. He appears quite attentive to 1386F, who is one of my current favorites.

The pair continues west, sniffing quite a lot, approaching the Tornado Drainage. Just before they cross that area, they double scent-mark on a tuft of yellow grass.

They stop a bit west of the bottom of the Drainage near a single conifer tree. They are nose to nose for a moment and then the male changes position. Suddenly they are in a tie!

This is big news so I call Rick over the radio.

Luckily they can be seen from the Lower lot as well, so I urge him to try from there, since this lot is already jammed. As it turns out, the pair remains tied for quite a long time, well past the “required” 20 minutes. 1386 dips her head towards the male a few times and he does the same, but the tie does not break.

A coyote appears on the hillside above them from the east. The smaller canid stops, circles back and comes closer, then sits on its haunches, watching. The wolves move around slightly, in a kind of slow spin, but the tie continues to hold.

After nearly 30 minutes, the tie breaks and both wolves wag their tails at each other, bouncing around in a sort of celebratory way. Then they bed down a while, close but not touching.

They don’t stay bedded long, though. Soon they are both up again, sniffing their way back east. They turn and head south, towards the river corridor, going out of sight.

Despite many eyes looking, we never see them come back out.

When I confer with Rick about this a little later, he says this is the very first tie he’s witnessed this season. I reply that it’s my first in about four years!

It’s now nearly 10AM. I’ve been told there is nothing in view to the east, so I decide to look again from Nature Trail. After about a half hour, I get a radio call to return to Hellroaring.

By the time I arrive, there is no parking, so I continue to the Lower lot.

Thanks to Lynette’s help I find four bedded wolves on Hellroaring slope just east of the creek, about 1/3 of the way up. These are Junctions; the alpha pair plus newly collared 1479F, along with an uncollared gray.

Those in the Upper lot can see three more wolves, all blacks, approaching the Tornado Drainage area from the west. From the description, I feel these three are likely the same trio we saw here yesterday.

The alpha group remains bedded a good hour, mostly stationary, only lifting heads and moving slightly to re-bed. After a while the trio moves into our view at the bottom of the Tornado Drainage. They seem very interested in the spot near the single conifer where the mating took place earlier.

After “reading the news” the three blacks wander slowly north and upslope. Eventually they bed in a circle of brown needles beneath a sizeable Douglas fir.

A thick snow squall arrives, shrouding all the wolves from view. People at the Upper lot report a howl coming from one of the trio. We hear it answered by a low voice north of our lot, very likely the Junction alpha male.

Once the snow lets up, we spot the alpha group is traveling briskly downslope, still east of the creek, following its line.

They cross at the bottom and travel below the basalt cliff towards the Tornado Drainage, just as the courting pair did, ending up right at the “mating tree”.

They sniff the area quite thoroughly, then turn and follow the route down towards the river taken by 1386F and her beau this morning.

We can’t tell if the alpha group is aware of the trio of blacks still bedded northwest of them. When the alpha male stops to howl again, there is no response from the trio. However, one of the three rises and moves about 50 feet downslope and sits on its haunches, clearly watching the alpha group below. The other two blacks remain bedded, seemingly unconcerned.

Then the “watcher” returns to the group, bedding down with them. The alpha group continues south a while. Then all three blacks get up and move further upslope.

Most of us are expecting some sort of interaction between the two groups. It would make sense for the alpha male to object to the Rescue Creek male being with his pack females. But we only have howling.

After a lot of sniffing, the alpha group changes direction and begins to head back east, as if satisfied with what he learned.

My back begins to complain, because I have been standing far too long. I should have been using my stool, but I was caught up in the good, prolonged viewing. So, I call it an early day in order to get back to the hotel to do my stretches.

I hear later that the alpha group finally did become aware of the trio above them. But it still didn’t become a “chase”. Instead, as the alpha group moved upslope, 1392M got up and simply headed west, followed by the two Junction females.

Today I saw: bison, coyotes, elk, a snowshoe hare (perhaps Chloe), pronghorn, 9 wolves (including 7 Junctions: 907F, the alpha male, 1479F, an uncollared gray, 1385M, 1386F and an uncollared black); one Rescue (1392M) and one Willow Creek 1407M) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.