I’m out at 4:45 in a warmish temp of 40.

The rain has finally let up. It fell so hard that it washed all the bug smear off my windshield!

The Soda Butte Picnic lot is closed off with orange cones. I slow down to see why: the creek is swollen so high it’s lapping at the edge of the pavement!

In Lamar, people are spread out in a variety of places, looking for the Mollies in the early light.

I stop at Coyote where I see Rick talking with Bill. Our trusty Bearman tells us he heard howling about 10 minutes ago, coming from the west end of Jasper Bench.

I set up my scope and start to scan. As usual, Bill is the first to spot a wolf. He finds a black near the split rock. Thanks to him I find that one and then see a few more. Gary sees maybe six.

It’s the Mollies.

Soon we have eight wolves traveling west past the split rock. They stop to have a rally and quickly disappear over Northern Divide ridge.

I pack up and follow Rick to Slough, expecting to find the Mollies from this side. Paul radios from her perch on Dave’s Hill that there are Junctions in view.

I set up right along the road, in hopes of seeing both packs from one place.

And I do. Right near the sage den is a bedded black, 1385F. And she has the pups with her! The little rascals are sniffing around to the right of their old home base.

More adults begin to emerge from Hidden Meadow. I see 907F, the alpha male, Dark Gray, 1477F and 1479F.

These five adults begin to travel with determination to the west. As they pass above the sage den, the pups begin to trail them, but when the get to the western trees, they seem to understand that they should stay behind.

The adults continue over Aspen Pass.

1385 remains near the den. Looks like she has babysitting duties today. I wonder how that job is decided day to day?

The pups sniff around and explore a bit, then 1385F leads them back to the safety of Hidden Meadow.

Just as they disappear from view, Doug Mac radios that he’s spotted the Mollies.

I swing my scope south and find a single black just west of Crystal Rock. There are several more wolves ahead of this black.

They go in and out of sight for a bit, then re-emerge in a clearing further west. I get a count of eight; three black and five gray.

I move to Lamar Bridge and with help from Paul on Dave’s Hill, find them just below skyline on Specimen. As few nervous elk are up there, clearly aware of the wolves. The elk begin to run and the wolves give chase.

They all disappear over skyline so I move further west to try to find them.

Then I remember that the Junction hunting party could very well be in view to the north so I decide to try Boulder. The Project is here already and has the Junctions in view.

They are below and west of the small basalt cliff, stalking a scattered herd of elk in the area.

It’s a hard spot to describe to others, as they are on an open sage slope, with few identifiable markers. The first wolf I see is the alpha male. Then I catch movement to the right and see 907 and then Dark Gray.

It’s a really hard look and I find myself searching for wolves more often than I’m seeing them! I also find 1479F briefly.

The elk seem to be healthy and have no trouble avoiding the wolves, moving just enough to stay ahead of them. The wolves try various strategies but never really get close.

Laurie and Dan arrive and manage to see at least four, so I’m happy. Finally, we are watching wolves together again!

The elk keep moving eastward. At one point, about 20 of them are bunched near the tree line in the area that leads to Junction Lake. Here the wolves employ a two-flank approach which seems sensible, but the elk turn the tables on them, chasing them back down the hill.

I get a few more fleeting glimpses of them among the trees, then lose them all.

Around 10:30 I head back east, hoping to try again to see the coyote pups at Footbridge.

On my way through the Canyon, I notice that the Lamar River is higher than it’s been all year. It’s maybe just a foot and a half below the indicator rock! This is another effect of yesterday’s rain.

There is a huge jam at Footbridge, and instinct tells me it’s not for the coyote den. Nope, it’s for the Norris sow and her two coys.

They are in clear view from the lot, feeding on a fresh carcass (likely an elk calf) on the old creek bank halfway between the bottom of Dead Puppy Hill and the Lamar River trail.

I see lots of people on the trail itself taking photos of the bears with their phones. To me, they are MUCH too close. This is a grizzly on a carcass, a MAMA bear with cubs. Several guides have been trying to keep people from going out the trail and have notified a Ranger who is on the way.

I park at the eastern end of the lot and stay well back, enjoying the view through my binoculars. I glance over at the coyote den and find an adult sitting vigil there. Alas no pups appear while I am watching.

Luckily for all the foolish people, the sow is quite focused on her meal and does not seem to be bothered by them.

As the Ranger arrives, I continue east and get my three-dog-day courtesy of a roadside fox near Baronette.

I end up spending the evening in Silver Gate, chatting with Laurie & Dan.

Gary sends Laurie a message this evening that a white buffalo calf was born a half hour ago near Confluence.

Today I saw: 3 grizzly bears (including two cubs), bison, a coyote, elk, a fox, pronghorn, 18 wolves: 8 Mollies (including 1090F, 1339M, 1411 and five others, plus 10 Junctions (including 907, AM, 1385F, 1477F, 1478F, 1479F, possibly brown-gray and an uncollared black plus the two pups) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.