I start my day at 5:30 with some left-over Miner’s pizza for breakfast. It’s a normal 35 degrees.

I start on Bob’s Knob this morning, happy that last night’s wind has moved elsewhere. Right away I see 5 black shapes in the flats below and left of Marge.

When I check with watchers on Dave’s Hill, they report seeing at least 8, so I head up to join them.

By the time I’m set up, 8 wolves have become 11. They are mostly just milling around, sniffing here and there. A few of the pups begin to play, including the beautiful gray one.

After being skunked last night, I lowered my expectations of finding them at all today, so I am very happy.

They gather for a short-lived rally which morphs into a long howling session. Moments later, a group of six moves up the gradual slope left of Marge, making me suspect an exodus is beginning. But they stall out and bed in the thick sage.

The other wolves remain content exploring various curiosities in the flats. I find the eagle perched in the tree, same as yesterday.

Three or four blacks from the group of six are seen a bit later, traveling slowly towards the Mixed Forest.

One reaches the yellow grass in front of the Forest and begins exploring the left end. I am unable to ID this wolf but it eventually approaches a small herd of bison with a single red dog, making them bunch up.

But then the wolf disappears and nothing else develops with the bison herd.

I turn back to the flats, watching the gray pup while three of the four blacks continue to roam and explore the area between Marge and the Southern Round Tree.

My high count for the morning is 11 but some others have 13 (10 blacks and 3 grays). The only adult wolf I can confidently ID today is the “black male”.

Then I spot a single black wolf on the open sage slope above the Mixed Forest. This could be the wolf that got the bison herd to bunch up earlier. I can see its tail wagging while its nose is down. I suspect it has found a burrow of something.

Around 10 I head down to my car. I take a short trek west to scope from Boulder Pond, trying to find the area where I saw 103F and her pups, way back in my early Druid days.

On my way back east, I stop at Lamar Canyon West and check the rendezvous area again. I find two blacks and a gray still bedded below Marge.

After my break, I head back to Slough around 4:45.

We stop at Lamar Canyon West, where the wind has parked itself, too. Maureen and Rick, Bill and Gary, Celia, volunteer Debbie and I spend a pleasant two hours here, watching a single black pup roam the flats below Marge.

The pup does not seem stressed; just bored and lonely. It eventually beds down just left of Marge, looking south.

A second pup shows up in the flats and roams around, investigating various holes and gullies, then beds near 1479’s excavation. Surprisingly, the two do not interact at all.

I speculate that perhaps some of the adults have gone south and the pup looking south might be anticipating their return.

So, we head back into Lamar and scope from Dorothy’s to test my theory. We find no wolves, but Celia spots a few elk below Amethyst near the river.

We are also treated to a spectacular sunset. On the way east we see the fox and four mule deer, including 2 fawns, still sporting a few faded spots.

Today I saw: bison, coyotes, mule deer (including 2 fawns), a bald eagle, elk, a fox, pronghorn, 1 1 Junction wolves (including 5 black adults including the black male and 1479, 1 gray adult - not 907- plus all 5 pups) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.