After spending 15 days in Bozeman attending to domestic and routine medical matters, I am once again heading to Yellowstone. It’s 12:15 and a mostly-sunny day, 57 degrees.

My friend Barb is already in YNP right now, her first adventure there since she had surgery in March.

She has been dealing with numerous complications all summer and fall. Finally she stumbled upon a combination of drugs that will allow her to travel away from home for more than an hour or so.

If her visit is successful, it will likely lead to more independence for her in future. She is in Hayden right now but I’m hoping to see her later today on the Northern range before she heads back to Bozeman.

I have an easy drive over the Pass. Beyond Livingston I enjoy seeing late-fall color still in the trees; some nice golds and oranges are still hanging on. Pointy-Head has a white top and the mountains further south are also nicely dusted.

I drive through the gate and start up the OGR, passing the sign that says “no stopping in road”. Just beyond it are two cars stopped in the road anyway, to photograph a pair of pronghorn.

I have my visit with Allison and Chloe and then continue to Mammoth. The area looks golden and dry but empty of people for a change. It’s gotten quite warm, too, 68 degrees!

A handsome bull elk draws a crowd just west of Lava Creek.

As I reach the Nature Trail lot I see a familiar car, so I pull in and have a happy greeting with J and E. Their scopes are set up facing south but they admit they are still wolfless today.

We have a nice catch up visit. Around 2PM Rick pulls in, returning from Hayden, where he walked out from Three Panel pullout at Stacy’s urging, in time to see several Wapiti wolves on their carcass.

As we are pleasantly chatting, a car coming from the east stops. The people inside tell Jim they have just seen wolves take down an elk in the “Overlook” lot (which we are pretty sure means Hellroaring).

We jump in our cars and head there, finding a packed pullout and wolves are still in view on the wide, open slope.

Guide Randolph and a few others kindly direct us where to look. They say that about an hour ago, six Junction wolves (five black and one gray) took down an adult elk and are still feeding on it.

I am delighted with this unexpected mid-afternoon sighting, as are all the visitors here. For once the wolves are easy to see; high enough on the slope to avoid being blocked by foreground trees.

The carcass is partially hidden in a depression, but the wolves themselves are in good view. The area is about a third of the way up the slope and about mid-way between Hellroaring and Little Buffalo creeks.

At first, I see two black wolves feeding. Randolf advises me that three other blacks and the single gray are bedded a bit to the east. As he is telling me this, one of the blacks leaves the carcass and moves east. I follow this wolf as it leads me to the bedded foursome.

The other black on the carcass begins to walk west. This wolf seems to be aiming for a triangular dark spot on the hill, likely a spring or a seep of some sort.

Several bison are bedded around this dark spot but pay no attention when the wolf arrives and lowers its head to drink.

For the next hour I enjoy this sighting with other wolf watchers and many visitors. The four bedded wolves return to the carcass for a second helping. Several of them take a turn visiting the “water hole” area for a drink.

As three wolves from this group return to the carcass, one of them charges at the birds that have gathered in the wolves’ absence. As the birds flush, the black wolf leaps in the air, all four legs off the ground, but still misses them.

I hear a familiar voice behind me. It’s Barb M! She saw my car and parked behind me. She gets her scope set up and we help her find the wolves.

It really completes my day to be once again watching wildlife together.

Kristina arrives, too, and we also have a nice reunion.

The day has warmed to 56 degrees and I am beginning to be concerned about the food in my coolers. So, around 4PM, with wolves still in view, I call it a day, bidding adieu to my various companions and setting off to the east.

At Baronette I narrowly miss hitting a grouse. In Silver Gate I unload my food, do my stretches and settle in for the evening.

It’s good to be back!

Today I saw: bison, a bull elk, a grouse, pronghorn, 6 Junction wolves (including five black and one gray) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.