I’m awake in bed reading when Laine rings the room phone to say “let’s meet for breakfast at 7”.

Although the buffet looks fabulous, none of us are really big eaters, so we order ala carte. I find it delicious and again, the service is excellent.

We pack up the car and I drive them around the Lake area, enjoying the views and the snow, then we head north and take a side trip east. We visit Fishing bridge, Pelican Creek, Mary Bay and Sedge Bay. We see just a few bison, but alas, no other critters.

A light drizzle comes and goes throughout the morning. I drive as far east as Teton Overlook, but the sky is too cloudy to offer that view. Next, I drive up Lake Butte Overlook. We get a great view of the frozen lake but none of the surrounding peaks.

On the way back down, two marmots rush across the road in front of me. I stop just in time, thanks to eagle-eyed Laine.

On the drive back, rain falls a bit harder and the temp drops to a chilly 35. But my Subaru keeps them warm and cozy.

As we near LeHardy Rapids, a familiar car passes by. It’s Joe K. He calls to me over the radio

“Unit 53 what are you doing in Hayden Valley?”.

Hah. I give him an update of the little we saw, and he says we’ll likely find a griz on a hillside near Trout Creek.

Thanks to Joe, we do find the griz, a young bear walking west of the road, leaving his prints in the snow. It’s a nice sighting but requires that my guests stand outside wearing their raincoats and hoods. They are not too keen on that.

At Grizzly Overlook we find a bald eagle perfectly posed in a nearby tree. David captures it beautifully in his camera.

We are still being rained on when we reach Canyon. The grill is not yet open and we don’t really want to lunch at Mammoth again, so we decide to get some ready-made sandwiches from the Canyon store to eat in the car later. They have salads, too.

We spend some time inside, roaming the Visitor Center, especially enjoying the 3-D topo map display.

It’s just too wet today to explore the waterfall views (and we did that on earlier trips anyway) so we head back north. Alas, Dunraven is not yet open, so we simply retrace our steps. Over Blanding hill the rain becomes snow for a while.

We drive past Mammoth and stop at Blacktail ponds once more. Although the bears are not visiting at the moment, we decide to have our sandwiches here. It’s a nice view, even in the rain.

Just east of Floating Island Lake Laine spots a moose to the south, so I pull over so we can get a good look.

At Yellowstone Picnic, a herd of bighorn sheep is again grazing very close to the road. David gets great photos.

Throughout Little America, we see bison and pronghorn. At Slough we drive down the campground road but things seem quiet. We don’t see wolves, but the dark grizzly is out again, northeast of Dave’s Hill.

The rain and gloom continues all the way up to Cooke City.

I get them checked in at the Elkhorn. Laine and David are staying in the same room they had 10 years ago! The friendly owner tells us that only ONE restaurant in town is open; the former Soda Butte Lodge, now under new management.

After we get settled, the rain finally lets up, so we head across the street for dinner. We each order burgers and David gets a local beer. The new owners have their hands full with a jammed dining room, but they work hard and manage to remain friendly.

The sun comes out for about a half hour as we cross the street to the Elk Horn. The local fox trots across the road.

We agree to aim for a 7AM departure tomorrow.

Today I saw: 2 grizzly bears, bison (and calves), a bald eagle, elk, a fox, 2 marmots, a moose, pronghorn, bighorn sheep,