Today I have clear skies again with the moon above the mountain.

When I get to Lamar, I see people scoping in various spots. But they are seeing bears, not Mollies. I continue to Slough.

I start on the Little Hill today. My first wolf is 1478F, who comes out of the den and heads south. I notice a black lump on the gully edge.

907 comes out, followed by the pups. Awww! She nurses them. The black turns into a wolf, but not one I recognize. It’s dark black, uncollared, and reveals itself to be a male. He is a very robust, handsome fellow.

Kathie L notices a wolf just to the right of our parked cars. It’s 1479F, likely coming back from another of her solo jaunts.

She reminds me more and more of dearly departed 1276F, who was always on the skinny side, and a “can’t sit still” kind of wolf. I wonder if her DNA has been checked yet? I bet 1276F is her mom.

She crosses the campground road with complete nonchalance, passing close to the crowd at the gravel lot. She then drops out of our sight down the creek bank.

Frank is up on Dave’s and tells us she is swimming Slough Creek. We see her again on the other side and watch her climb up to the den area.

1479 reaches the sage den and has a brief greeting with 907, who pesters her for food. I’m not sure she has any food to give. Instead, she aims for the pups who swarm her. She nuzzles them and plays with them a bit.

They she moves a bit left, followed by both black pups. The gray pup notices and runs to catch up. The pups are out and visible for nearly an hour today, the longest interval yet.

After a bit of a romp with 1479, the pups go back to mom. 907 sits on her haunches and nurses them “granny style” for a while.

The handsome black male remains bedded for quite a while on the eastern side of gully ridge. He certainly seems quite at home here, but I don’t see him interact with pups.

He takes a walkabout all the way to the Yellow Grass meadow, tailed partway by a coyote. As he continues east, he is mildly harassed by a nervous cow elk (who perhaps has a new calf stashed nearby) but the wolf is not bothered. He is quite a cool customer, this wolf.

Around 8AM, the pups go back inside the den, followed by 1479, while 907 remains bedded in view.

Down in the flats, 1478 is tooling around, looking for scraps. She starts to climb up, taking her sweet time. She greets 907 but has no food for her.

1478 goes to the den and the pups come out to say hi and nuzzle with her a while. The gray pup seems especially vigorous today. Both black pups seem a little larger than the gray.

1478 hangs out with the pups, while 1479 goes to get a drink from the spring. 907 seems content to remain bedded on the lip of the gully.

It’s been a great morning but as the day warms to a pleasant 60 degrees, all the wolves retreat underground.

Around 10 I head to my car. I am going back to Bozeman today for a quick overnight visit, to take care of a few things that just won’t wait.

I stop at Longs to look for the cliff-loving grizzly family, but this time I do not find them.

My drive west is mostly uneventful and jam-free. I see elk up on Kite Hill, which I’m sure Allison loves. And Mt. Everts is greening up very nicely.

I reach Bozeman just a little after 1PM and start on my “To Do” list.

Today I saw: bison, a coyote, elk, 7 Junction wolves (including 907F, 1478F, 1479F, the handsome black male plus and all three pups) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.