The predicted storm finally arrives this morning.

It’s not too bad in Gardiner, but the further east I go the more snow I find.

Luckily, the Park has done a good job clearing the OGR (which is just wet) but the plow has not yet made it east of Mammoth.

I estimate about 3 inches of fresh, wet snow on the road but there is ice underneath, so I go pretty slow.

At Blacktail Ponds I stop to admire the new white landscape under first light. As I near the S Curves, there are bison bedded on both sides of the road bearing accumulated snow on their humps and heads.

At Phantom Lake I pass the Crew doing telemetry. They don’t look too happy, so I surmise they have not yet found their wolves. I continue to Hellroaring.

My buds Jeff, Sian, Beth and Sandy are here but with nothing yet in sight. We scope anyway because we have some visibility on the lower slopes.

But it soon diminishes. Melba arrives and shows us photos of a pair of wolves that crossed the road ahead of her just west of the High Bridge.

Melba goes east while I drive back west, to see if her wolves might still be around. I pass the Crew this time Christmas Bear, but they still don’t look happy.

I find footprints of Melba’s wolves, already being filled-in with new snow, but I don’t see them, nor do I hear any howling.

I turn around and go back east, enjoying the transformed views, now under brighter light. But at Christmas Bear I find Park Rangers have closed the road temporarily due to treacherous ice. I have the good luck to be temporarily stuck here with Cameron. He says two of the crew cars skidded and nearly went over the edge down by Geode.

We share some news and I tell him stories about this pullout – how it was named and that it used to have a tall tree that offered ample afternoon shade until it was blown down two years ago in a windstorm.

Soon the road is re-opened and we continue down the hill. I see Jeff’s camper parked Geode next to Sian, Beth and Sandy’s cars. I join them and they show me where the crew cars skidded. We’re all glad they were able to stop in time.

Snow is still falling heavily, so Jeff invites us all inside for hot chocolate. We have a nice visit, then head back out to renew our search for wolves.

At Hellroaring, the lower slopes are clear but the top third is still in fog. We stop again at Elk Creek, finding similarly poor visibility.

I continue east while Jeff stays here.

In Little America I stop to talk with Bob L. He says there was a possible sighting of Mollie wolves above Crystal but visibility is bad. As I get further east I hear Melba on the radio. Most of her message is garbled by distance but I hear the word “Footbridge”.

I relay this to Jeff and continue east.

When I get to Footbridge I see only a few cars. But to the east it’s another story. Cars and people all over the place! Looks like I’ve found a wolf sighting.

Melba and several others are set up on the south side of the road near 480’s crossing. I thought I’d be seeing Mollies, but she says it’s Shrimps!

As I set up Melba updates me. People first saw these wolves from Footbridge about an hour ago, moving east on the south side of the creek. Eventually, the pack stopped and bedded where they are now, about half-way between the road and the creek, on a low sage-hill.

The newly collared black (1487F) is the easiest to see, because she is moving, searching for her perfect bedding spot. All the rest of the wolves in this pack are gray and blend in very well with the snow-covered sage.

Eventually, a raised head or a stretched leg tips me off to the rest of them. I recognize 1228F and the newly collared alpha male, 1488M, bedded fairly close together.

I see parts of three other grays but can’t tell which is which. The snow comes in more thickly and suddenly the whole valley is in white out.

Jeff radios that he got my message and is pulling into Footbridge (his camper won’t fit anywhere else!). I drive back there to help him find the Shrimps. Luckily, the snow lets up just enough. Jeff sees the wolves and is happy.

I relay to him Bob’s message about Mollies. Jeff got word of that already and adds that he talked to a guide in Lamar who had seen them going over the top at Crystal. He says he stopped at Coyote briefly to scan Jasper but visibility was no good.

As much as I’d like to see Mollies, I think I’ll stick with this close view of the Shrimp Lake Pack for now.

I count six total, so we are missing a gray pup. I hope the one I saw in Round Prairie on Wednesday is not still lost!

The black female seems restless, but the others are content to sleep through the snowstorm. There is just enough re-bedding and changing of position for me to tell which one is the almost-two-year-old male and which are the two pups.

The best part of this sighting occurs around 1:30 when the pack begins to stir. The two gray pups start it off by rising and trotting south of the knoll, to a flat area near the frozen creek. They start to play together, grappling, wrestling, biting, chasing.

They seem equally matched in energy, even though one seems a bit smaller and thinner than the other. As they wrestle about, one grabs a chunk of fur on the other’s neck, or an ear, or a leg, trying to trip or overpower the other. The other breaks away, causing the first to chase it, until they stall out again, each with a grip on the other.

The two youngsters race back and forth. Once one of them whirls in a circle chasing its own tail. Their favorite thing seems to be crouching down to grab the other’s leg, trying to trip or pull the other off balance.

Another chase begins and the one being chased tries to escape by dashing to the low hill where they both crash into the 2-year-old male, startling him. They race off again and smash into 1228F, causing her to get to her feet.

She shows her tolerance by simply bedding again.

Next the pair charges towards their older sister, and I gasp as they both leap deftly over her. She responds by joining the chase for a bit which seems to delight the pups. I am not sure if she was truly joining them or intending to admonish them for disturbing her.

Through it all the alpha male just watches calmly. The pack is clearly used to these antics by the pups.

They finally run out of steam and sprawl out on the snow. One nuzzles 1228F and beds near her. 1228F then does the sweetest thing. She inches forward on her belly until she is head to head with the pup. She nuzzles it, causing the pup to roll on its back, stretching its front paws around her head in a gesture of both affection and submission. 1228 begins to lick the pup’s throat and chest. This feels so good to the pup that one rear leg begins to twitch, vibrating in the air, which I find both sweet and comical.

By 2:15 all six are sleeping again, so I decide to take my leave. Tomorrow is my last day and I need some time to pack.

On the way back, despite the still-falling snow, I scope from Picnic and Dorothy’s, just in case the Mollies are still around. I don’t find them, nor do I hear any reports of them.

In Little America, a coyote travels for a while along the road ahead of me. I hang back and watch until he turns south.

At the bottom of the OGR I see elk grazing.

Today I saw: bison, coyotes, elk, pronghorn, 6 of the 7 Shrimp Lake wolves (including 1228F, 1488M, 1487F, the 2 yr old gray male and two of the three gray pups) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.