More snow falls overnight and is still falling when I head out. It’s 26 degrees at first light.

As usual, my first stop is at Hellroaring. Sian is here. She says she heard a single howl in the dark, coming from the western side of the area.

But after about 20 minutes of searching with decent visibility we still have nothing in our scopes. So, we head east. I want to look up on Specimen from Elk Creek, if visibility permits, that is.

Instead, Beth finds a single black wolf beyond Flat-Top mountain, near the Trough. This could be Sian’s howler.

The wolf disappears very quickly but my impression is that the wolf knows where it’s going, as if it’s trailing other wolves.

We spread out. Sian and Beth go to Boulder. I go to the big lot near Petrified Tree while Jeff stays at Elk Creek.

Beth finds a different black wolf to the north. Then we get a radio call from Kevin at Rick’s pullout. He’s found two blacks and a gray in the same general area where Beth is looking.

Jeff and I converge at Rick’s just in time for the arrival of another snow-squall. Just before I lose visibility, I manage to see two blacks; one is the Junction alpha male.

It’s colder today at 19 degrees and the wind makes it feel colder still.

Joe K stops by on his way west. He’s been in Lamar Canyon photographing the pygmy owl. He says he heard that the Rescue crew has wolves from Nature Trail, out near the Triangle forest.

With visibility so bad here, I decide to head that way, hoping to see more wolves before I head home. But by the time I get to Nature Trail, the wolves are already out of sight. Another snow squall arrives, hiding everything.

Jeff and I linger here another half hour, hoping the squall will pass and we’ll have a chance to scope again. But then the Crew car leaves. Apparently the Rescue signals have dropped off.

With the weather so iffy, I decide to leave for Bozeman. Jeff goes back east and I hear later that he saw the Mollies on a carcass near Crystal Creek.

I see lot of elk on the way back; some on the lower hills of the OGR and more at the airport.

The road outside Gardiner is mostly dry, but it looks like more snow is coming. I end up taking the frontage road again but get back safe and sound.

Today I saw: bison, coyotes, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, 2 (or possibly 3) Junction wolves (all blacks, including the alpha male) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.