Afternoon: Its already 86 in Bozeman at 2PM. A perfectly clear, if warm, summer’s day. In Livingston, I reach a high of 92 (!) but its a tad cooler in the Park (84) As I enter the Park, I drive into a pocket of light rain. It helps to cool things down a bit.
Late Afternoon - Evening: 2PM-8PM Hot. 85 at Slough/75 at SG
Snow Level (roads/landscape): Even Avalanche is nearly bare of snow
Water/Ice Level (ponds and rivers): water levels dropping
CROWD: Ungodly busy; it’s summer
I have been planning my next visit for September, intending to spend time watching wolves with Krisztina before she and Corey move to Alaska. But in July Corey gets a great job there, so now they are leaving much sooner.
Krisztina is someone for whom I am willing to break my rule.
Bison: all over, and a lot in the road
Mule deer: grazing along 89 near Emmigrant.
Pronghorn: OGR, Little America and Lamar
COMMENTS (if any): Any time the temps are above 75 its rare to see any animals other than bison and pronghorn.
LATE AFTERNOON (3:30PM-5PM) At the top of the OGR I have my visit with Allison and then head east.
I enjoy seeing bright pink fireweed blooming throughout the Blacktail plateau, especially between Elk Creek and Petrified Tree.
First bison jam just west of Boulder. Traffic comes to a dead stop in both lanes. It finally clears about 10 minutes later. Several cows are being pursued by bulls amorous intent. A few pronghorn move about on the north side hills.
Second jam just before Slough Creek. This one lasts 13 minutes.
I stop at LCW to scope the area left of Marge, where the pack has been hanging out the last few days. The heat waves are thick and I see nothing but bedded bison.
I am aware of a several-days-old bison carcass south of Hubbard Hill, but I doubt anything will be feeding there in this heat (85). I see two cars parked at Mid-point with people in them, not looking.
Third bison jam is at Confluence – this one is for a single bison bull walking along the center line to the east. No one is willing to pass him, even though there is plenty of room.
After 9 minutes he moves to the west bound lane, allowing east bound traffic to proceed.
I get to Silver Gate before 6, where I unload and settle in. A bit later, I visit with Krisztina and we make our plans for tomorrow.
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 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)