It’s 41 degrees at 11:30AM, and cloudy as I head off to YNP for a short visit.

I’m staying in Gardiner again, since Laurie & Dan are not able to make their usual trip. February is wolf (and coyote) breeding. I’ve already missed a good part of it but Laurie reminded me that the season has started later than it did in the early days of wolf restoration.

The Druid pack were “early breeders” starting in the last days of January. But it’s far more common now for breeding behavior to start as late as mid-February.

On 89 I find the Absarokas shrouded in cloud. I see many elk in a field east of Dry Creek.

Near the cattle guard at the far end of Yankee Jim Canyon I see carcasses of deer, one on each side of the road. Looks like someone was driving way too fast.

As I near Gardiner I see more elk. At the Gardiner gate I find a welcome emptiness. This is usually a good time of year to visit, when crowds are small.

I have my visit with Allison up on the OGR, then continue east. I see bedded bison in the meadows to the north on my way up to Undine, and more bison grazing west of the still-frozen ponds.

It’s quite windy in the Park, with ground blizzards wafting snow ahead of me on the otherwise dry road. I find nobody at Nature Trail so I continue east

I see a few cow elk grazing the eastern end of Phantom Lake. As I continue east I see very few people out, and no guides that I recognize. There are no cars at Slough so I continue to Lamar.

The valley is full of snow, but I don’t see a single ungulate.

Just east of Confluence, I see a lone mule deer. This is likely the one that Julie A reported seeing two days ago. The deer is still sticking close to the River between Hitching Post and Confluence.

The animal looks healthy to me but it's behavior is pretty odd, so it may be injured in some way I can’t see.

In Round Prairie two moose are trying to hide in thick trees. I look for goats on Thunderer but can’t find them.

I head back west and scope from Trash can and Dorothy's, enjoying the snow-covered terrain. But I find no wolves.

My next stop is at Lamar Canyon West. As soon as I set up I see what looks like a bedded black, just above the creek. I doubt myself and look again. OMG, it’s not just one, it’s half a dozen!

I seem to have caught them in the midst of a rally, with lots of heads together and many wagging tails. The bedded on gets up and joins in.

I figure I may have just found the Junctions. I see even more wolves now; a total of nine with two grays and seven blacks.

Even though the radio has been silent, I call out my sighting and get a response from Michael S (Wolftracker).

He tells me these wolves were seen in the same area this morning, and that they likely have a carcass behind the Southern Round Tree.

Soon Michael joins me here in the lot. He gives me more welcome news – that an uncollared gray Rescue male has just joined the group, making three grays total.

The rally is over and the wolves move in a single line through deep snow towards the Marge Simpson tree. As they move, my count rises again to 10; 7 blacks and 3 grays. Michael says the full count is 11, so we are missing one black.

I try my best to ID the various individuals. I see 1479F, still as feisty as ever. I also see two large, collared wolves, one black and one gray. Michael confirms they are 1392M and 1484M, both former Rescue males who have joined the remaining Junction females.

I also see gray 1478F and 1385F (black with a gray face).

They soon go out of sight behind the hill that Marge grows on, but then re-emerge, meandering towards the Southern Round tree. Birds rise right after the wolves disappear behind a hill. Aha! This is where the carcass is.

After another minute, 1479F and a collared gray come out just below the tree right of the Southern Round tree. They interact in a way that makes me think the gray is 1478F (1479 tends to be dominant to her, even though she is younger). A large, collared black joins these two below the tree.

Then a second pair of wolves; 1385F and the new uncollared gray emerge from the same area, walking up slope. They both stop and the gray rises to mount her. 1385F almost immediately drops to sit in the snow and he drops with her. Oh wait, I think they are tied!

This tie doesn’t go particularly well, maybe lasting only 5-7 minutes (a “good” tie is at least 20 minutes). Perhaps this uncollared gray is inexperienced?

After about 5 minutes, the three other wolves notice the tied pair. They all get up and go to them. The big black seems to object to the tie and deliberately breaks it up.

His behavior is more deliberate than aggressive. I’m pretty sure this was 1392M, the alpha male.

1385F stays on the ground while the gray walks in circles around her for a while. 1479 bounces around 1385 while the big black stands there, looking at all of them. 1478F stays well out of it, bedded to the right.

Then all five wolves move further downslope towards the flat (1478 bringing up the rear) and settle down.

It’s nearly 4PM so I pack up bid adieu to Michael and his guests, thanking him for his help.

I drive back west to check in to the Super 8, smiling as I go. I wish all my visits could start with a great wolf sighting like this one!

Today I saw: bison, coyotes, a mule deer, dippers, ducks, elk, 2 moose, 10 Junction wolves (including 1385F, 1478F, 1479F, a large collared black (1392M), 4 more blacks, a large collared gray (1484M) and the “new” uncollared gray), and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.