We find about a half-inch of new snow on the car this morning. It’s very powdery and easy to brush off.

This is the first time I’ve driven the OGR in freshly-fallen snow. I shimmy in a few spots, but it’s mostly fine.

We find Jeff at Nature Trail and help him look for a while. But we soon continue east.

We see a herd of elk in the forest east South Butte just above the road.

All the way through the Blacktail, we see only bison. It proves the same through Little America, too.

When we get into Lamar, we learn that the injured bison is still alive and in the same area, but the Mollies are not in view. Some think they moved north.

We stop at Picnic anyway, where we see a pair of coyotes and a pair of bald eagles. The injured bison cannot be seen from the road-side lots but can be seen from the low hill to the north.

Neither Becky nor I feel up to that walk.

A guide find several bighorns up above the eroded cliff to the north, the place where I saw my very first wolf, back in May, 2000.

We continue east, stopping at the Confluence where we see both Bob L and Melba. Melba tells us the bison was alive until about 9AM but has now succumbed to its injuries.

Becky and I continue east to Round Prairie to check out the moose reports we’ve heard. Some folks saw 9 of them this morning.

We find three grazing the willows south of the bridge.

At first, we think we see more, but then realize the other shapes are human photographers, wearing dark brown parkas!

We continue driving east where we find deeper and deeper snow and beautifully flocked trees. We stop in Silver Gate to take a photo of Laurie’s driveway for her.

On our way back we stop at Warm Creek for a make-shift lunch, while watching ducks and dippers out the window.

At Trout Lake we see Rick approaching so we stop in that lot to have a quick chat. He gives us a report of Rescue wolves he saw today on the Blacktail.

He tells us where to look. We thank him and continue west.

At the Confluence we spot a pair of squabbling coyotes.

As we head back west, we continue to see fresh slide-offs although we don’t count them this time. Between Coyote Overlook and Fisherman’s we see a small red car sitting in very deep snow to the south with both occupants inside. We stop to offer help but they say a ranger has already stopped by and will return with a tow truck.

We cannot figure how that car got there, but since they are ok, we decide not to embarrass them further by asking.

At the bear den we run into Jeff again. He has been at Nature Trail watching Rescues, and confirms what Rick told us.

We continue west and notice the sun has finally poked out, warming the day to 28 and making the snow glisten.

When we arrive at Nature Trail, we are delighted to find wolves still in view, bedded on a low, snow-covered knoll.

We count 7 total: 6 blacks and 1 gray.

While we are watching, three individual wolves take a turn rising, stretching and trotting downhill out of sight, as they do when returning for another bite of a carcass.

The suspected carcass is, of course, out-of-sight.

One more black wolf arrives from the north, joining the group for its extended nap. This ups our total count to 8.

Around 3PM we head west once more, into Mammoth and down the now dry and clear OGR. Again we see several pronghorn on the rolling hills above Gardiner.

After a short break at the motel (in which Becky’s door malfunctions severely enough to require her to move to a different room) we drive back to Gardiner for dinner.

Tonight, we are meeting Helena and Peter at Wonderland.

Besides enjoying the food, we have a really nice time getting to know the “new generation” better.

Today I saw: bison, coyotes, dippers, ducks, 2 bald eagles, elk, 3 moose, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, 8 Rescue wolves (7 blacks and 1 gray) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.