TIME-TEMPERATURE- WEATHER:

Early AM (first light-9AM): Warm again; 44 at 4:45AM at SG

Late AM (9-noon) 74 at noon and 78 at 2PM

CROWD: very busy, normal for June

OVERNIGHT NEWS (IF ANY) Laurie got a late report that the Junctions got a bison calf in Lamar last evening.

SUMMARY FOR THE DAY: We manage a variety of sightings of Junctions today, from Picnic to Dorothys to Lamar Canyon West. We look for, but do not see, the coyote pups today. It’s probably too hot (78).

Around 2PM Laurie & Dan and I head back to Bozeman

WOLF SIGHTINGS (total; pack; individuals, pullout, time of day): 4 wolves total today, all Junctions

4 Junction wolves, including the uncollared yearling, an unidentified black adult, 1484M and 1545M

The uncollared yearling was near the double foothills in the early AM, later travelled west towards Amethyst. Lost him in the tree line. Seen from Picnic.

The unidentified black was right of Marge, heading towards the lower Aspen Drainage. Only in sight a minute or two. Seen around 6:45AM from LCW

1484M was on Middle Ridge (seen from LCW) eating a pronghorn fawn. This was a nice long sighting.

1545M was seen crossing the Lamar below Jasper, then moving across the flats, crossing the road between Coyote and Dorothys. He remained in view on the north side sage hills for over an hour, before heading to Secret Passage. Also an extended sighting

NON-WOLF SIGHTINGS (what & where)

Black bear: 3 black bears today. A mom and coy at the treeline heading towards Amethyst bench seen from Picnic in the early morning. Then a single bear (likely a boar) near the double foothills, also from Picnic

Grizzly: two bears up on Druid Peak in the late morning seen from Footbridge.

Bison: various, all over!

Coyote: two in Lamar south of Picnic

Mule deer: in the high meadows, early morning just west of SG. And a small herd crossing to the south on the OGR, in the afternoon

Elk: a small herd north of the road seen from Dorothy’s late morning.

Fox: in the afternoon, between upper and lower Baronette, carrying a gopher.

Geese: Lamar, early morning

Pronghorn: Lamar, Little America, the OGR

EARLY MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (first light-approx 9AM) My first stop is Picnic, where others are already gathered. Four Junction wolves were seen by early birds in the area where they got the bison calf last night.

By the time I arrive, only the uncollared yearling remains in view. He roams here and there, looking for scraps. He start to travel west, going in and out of the treeline.

A guide calls in a black bear sow with a coy west of the big fan. I find it, thanks to him. Mom and cub move steadily west towards Amethyst bench. The cub is so cute, climbing on logs, halfway up trees and down again, as mom leads the way west.

I see a coyote trailing the uncollared yearling for a while, from a distance. Then a second coyote further east.

A different black bear adult is spotted where the wolf disappeared. That bear now walks the treeline behind the double foothill.

Ive now lost the un-collared yearling, so I head west. Rick has called from LCW, saying he’s just found a single black in the Marge area.

I arrive in time to see it as it disappears into the willows of lower Aspen Drainage. It was a fleeting glimpse not long enough to ID it.

The couple I met in Hayden, Kurt and Beth, tell me they’ve spotted a wolf out on Middle Ridge, below skyline.

I find a collared gray. It’s eating something. I see a single pronghorn doe nearby and suspect the wolf just caught her fawn.

At first I think it might be 1478F but later decide it was more likely 1484M.

The mother pronghorn keeps approaching the wolf and then backing off. The wolf lifts the carcass and I see a very slender leg and tiny hoof. Yep, he got her fawn. Poor thing.

I am joined by my Bozeman friends Barb and Kit. They are having on a rare Yellowstone day trip and are thrilled to be seeing a wolf.

After about 20 minutes, 1484M gets up and moves south into a grove of aspen. We know there is simultaneous wolf activity in Lamar and consider going back, but then 1484M emerges from the aspen and returns to the carcass site so we stay to watch him.

Laurie and Dan are in Lamar at Hubbard, watching 3 blacks and a gray heading up Amethyst bench and continue to Jasper. When they disappear (as expected) near the back of the bench, Laurie and Dan join us here.

1484M picks up the remains of the fawn and carries it into the grove of aspen. For a while we get sporadic views of him and we can’t really tell what hes doing. Eventually he comes out of the trees and heads south towards Divide Ridge.

Meanwhile, Scott W has climbed up Cardiac Hill and has found the Junctions again from that higher angle. He says 7 Junctions are chasing a black bear up the forested hill behind the Bench.

We go back to Lamar, while Kit and Barb head to Hayden.

LATE MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (approx 9AM-12 noon) We set up at Dorothys while Scott continues his play-by-play, none of which we can see from our location!

Scott says the wolves have treed the bear and are having a rally. Then someone pots a single collared black below Jasper, in the flats. Aha! This we CAN see!

We pick him up as he crosses the Lamar, then the flats. He seems to be aiming to cross the road to the north. Laurie sees the white GPS box, so we know we are seeing good babysitter 1545M.

Despite the crowd that lines the road and fills all the flat spaces, the wolf crosses easily between Coyote and Dorothys.

He is in good view for me and many others, climbing up a sage hill. He sits on his haunches for a while, close enough for good photos while still being far enough away to be safe.

He moves a bit further, then I see his head move up and down in the sage. I cant quite figure out what he is doing until someone suggests he may have found a birds nest. Ahh, it suddenly makes sense.

Eventually 1545M leaves the area, climbing higher and veering northeast towards Secret Passage. He tops out for me east of the shale forest.

I suspect he is now headed towards the new den to feed the pups.

Laurie and Dan and I go back to LCW in hopes of seeing other Junctions returning to Slough. When nothing develops, we move on to Slough roadside, but find none there, either.

The day has warmed to 74 so we head east.

We stop at Footbridge to bid farewell to Paul and Gary. They show us a pair of grizzlies up on Druid Peak.

We continue back to Silver Gate to pack and clean as this is our last day for a while.

AFTERNOON HIGHLIGHTS (approx 2PM-4PM) We stop at the Ranch, hoping for a last look at the coyote pups, but they are not in view. Maybe 78 is too warm for them.

After we pass Elk Creek, we find ourselves in a slow-moving line of cars that doesn’t clear until Phantom Lake, when the line-painting maintenance crew finally finds a big enough pullout and sets us free.

Our last wildlife sighting is on the OGR when we stop for a small group of mule deer to let them cross.

SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT YELLOW FLOWERS: For the last week or so, and particularly today, I have noticed the proliferation of what I presume are colonies of arrow-leaf balsam root. This lovely yellow daisy-like plant seems to be everywhere and in abundance this year. In past years, I have noticed it starts to bloom in late May, as green-up progresses through the Park. I usually always see it near Elk Creek, and on the north slopes of the west end of Lamar Canyon.

But this year seems it is absolutely EVERYWHERE and just gorgeous.

TODAY I SAW: 3 black bears (including 1 coy), 2 grizzly bears, bison (and calves), 2 coyotes, mule deer, elk, a fox (carrying a gopher), pronghorn, 3 Junction wolves (uncollared yearling, 1484M and 1545M) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:

DF: Diagonal Forest (a feature east of the Slough den)

DPH: Dead Puppy Hill; the partly treed hill below the crest of Mt. Norris immediately south of Footbridge pullout. Named by coyote researchers before the 1995 wolf reintroduction. The hill has been a popular area with local wolf packs since wolves were reintroduced. It has held several coyote dens over the years, but to my knowledge, this year is the first time a wolf pack has denned on it. The Mollies chose an area on the hill’s western slope above the new growth forest, and produced at least two pups, one black and one gray, which were seen infrequently during June.

HF: Horizontal Forest (another feather east of the Slough den

HR: Hellroaring (large overlook pullout on the Blacktail)

LCW: Lamar Canyon West (pullout on the western side of Lamar Canyon) that overlooks a lot of, but not all of, the area wolves use at Slough.

MST: Marge Simpson Tree (distinctive tree in Slough Flats) In 2024, the Junctions used the meadows below and left of Marge as their August-October rendezvous.

OGR: The OGR Old Gardiner Road (current name for the new road hastily constructed after the 2022 flood on top of the former gravel road between Mammoth and Gardiner)

RP: Round Prairie (big meadow south of Pebble Creek campground)

SB: Soda Butte (or SBV Soda Butte Valley) where Soda Butte Creek flows between Round Prairie and its Confluence with the Lamar River)

SG: Silver Gate (small town just outside the northeast Park entrance)

SRT: Southern Round Tree (distinctive tree south of the Marge Simpson Tree)

UCG: Un-collared gray (Junction 2 yr-old bouncy male). Born to the Rescue Creek Pack, he joined the Junction Pack sometime in February 2025.

YGM: Yellow Grass Meadow (a feature east of and upslope of the Horizontal forest at Slough)