Yesterday, I picked up my sister Elaine and her husband David at the Bozeman airport. This is Laine’s fourth visit to the Park and David’s third (Laine and Cindy I had a sister’s visit to the Park in 2010).

In addition to visiting me, they really like being in Yellowstone to see the wildlife. This time they are also curious about the effects of the 2022 flood.

We had a nice visit last night and an early dinner.

This morning, we are on the road at 8AM. It’s a bright, sunny day with temps in the 50’s. Our drive over the pass is easy and we find little traffic in Paradise Valley.

I stop at the Wildflour bakery in Emmigrant to get some tasty treats. I also stop briefly at the rest area to show them some of the remaining flood effects.

As we near Gardiner we see a few pronghorn and elk, and more of both as we wind up the Old Gardiner Road. At the pullout above Chinese Gardens, I stop and find some distant bighorn sheep on McMinn Bench.

I have a silent visit with Allison and Chloe and then drive on.

Our next stop is Blacktail ponds to check the bison carcass. I knew from the daily report that a grizzly sow with two yearlings had been feasting on it for several days, but, alas, they are not here when we pull in.

We do see a pair of turkey vultures and various other birds, though, including a great blue heron stalking the edge of the pond.

And we hear yellow-headed blackbirds. I find one in my scope and David gets some photos.

As we near the 6-Mile Blacktail Plateau road we have our first bear jam. It’s a cinnamon black bear, to the north. He’s hard to see through the forest of trees but we manage.

We see another black bear on the far side of Floating Island Lake. This one is dark brown – he’s g rubbing near the base of a tree.

There are yellow-headed blackbirds nesting here, too, and some blue-billed ruddy ducks on the water.

At the tower ranger station we notice a half-dozen photographers in the field below Jeff’s Hill. They a re waiting for action at a coyote den, which we don’t see, but we DO see a badger amble by.

We stop briefly at Slough but there is no activity at the moment so we continue east.

I got a tip about a coyote den south of Dorothy’s, so we stop here. It’s pretty far away but I find a resting adult near the den opening. Laine and Dave find her very hard to see and alas, there is no pup activity at the moment.

They are getting hungry so we head back west for lunch. On the way we see numerous pronghorn. We make a stop at the Tower loo, and while waiting in line I notice a big jam across from the Ranger station. Naturally I figure it’s another black bear, so when we head that way, I pull over on the north side so David can hop out with his camera.

Suddenly a Ranger rushes over and orders David back in the car. Turns out the jam is for a grizzly!

Sorry, David!

I take a quick look – he is far away in the flats but still closer than usual for a griz. I am embarrassed and they rib me for it.

During lunch at the Mammoth dining room we watch through the window as people start to get too close to grazing elk across the street. Some volunteers arrive and call them back.

Since our rooms at Mammoth are not yet ready, I take them for a drive to the south. We stop at Swan Lake and see…a pair of swans. Then we visit Sheepeater cliffs and see a single marmot sunning itself, and a golden mantled ground squirrel doing the same.

We drive a bit further to Roaring Mountain, (which no longer roars but whispers). On the way back we join a jam for a good-sized black bear boar. David gets good photos of this guy.

We stop at the Golden Gate for photos of Rustic Falls. Sharp-eyed Laine spots another marmot down below, taking a drink of water from the Rustic stream.

We go back to Mammoth and check in. This is my first time staying here since it was renovated. I think it’s excellent. The room décor is fresh yet still hints at turn of the century style. The rooms now have a small fridge, a microwave, a coffee maker and, best of all, a huge modern bathroom with a walk-in shower and many more electrical outlets for today’s plugged in populace. Still no TV’s though, which is fine with me.

We have dinner in the Dining room. As we chat I suggest that they can sleep in two mornings as long as they get up early ONE morning. They agree and add that tomorrow can be the early one, since they intend to go to bed right after dinner. I am happy with these choices, since it means we ought to get east to Slough and Lamar during prime wolf watching time.

We end up liking the drinks and desserts more than the entrees. We walk back to the hotel in the cool early evening air and hit the sack.

Today I saw: 3 black bears, a grizzly bear, yellow headed blackbirds, bison (and calves), a coyote, ruddy ducks, elk, a great blue heron, 2 marmots, bighorn sheep, 2 swans, pronghorn, a golden-mantled ground squirrel, 2 turkey vultures and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.