It’s 11:30AM as I set off from Bozeman for another Yellowstone wolf-watching visit.

Bozeman got smacked with another 6 inches of snow overnight but the sun is out now, and the roads are already cleared.

It’s quite cold, though, at a mere 7 degrees. The landscape looks far more like “normal” winter now, quite different than it was the last time I took this route. The hillsides are totally snow-covered.

On Rt 89 I see steam rising from the Yellowstone. There is not much traffic here and I follow a clear double track of previous cars through the remaining snow on the road.

In Gardiner my north-side windows get partly fogged up.

As I wind up the OGR I notice a few pronghorn toughing it out on the lower slopes.

I stop for my visit with Allison and then proceed east.

There are bison south of the S Curves and more above the south-side forest on the hills above the Bluebird tree

As expected, the temps drop as I continue east. The Park is now full of snow. All the open areas sport criss-crossing tracks.

I am staying in Gardiner tonight because Laurie & Dan had to cancel their visit and I am not comfortable staying there alone in wintertime. But I love seeing the Lamar so I drive as far as Round Prairie and then turn around, enjoying the beautiful scene.

At Soda Butte midpoint I stop to chat with Melba, Val & Jeff. They are scanning for Mollies. Melba says Bob L saw most of the pack early this morning in Round Prairie. Others saw a few cross to the north later in the day near Trout Lake.

I hang out with my buds a while, chatting and catching up, but we never spot any wolves. Around 3PM I head back west to check into the Super 8.

I have to negotiate a small bison jam at the east end of the Yellowstone Bridge. I use my new “crackle bottle” trick that Doug Mac taught me. And guess what? It works.

At Christmas Bear I see a coyote climbing a hill to the south. People in other cars that stopped tell me it’s a wolf.

I get settled in the hotel and warm up my home-made turkey soup. Then I type up a meagre report for Laurie and hit the sack.

Today I saw: bison, a coyote, pronghorn, and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.