It’s a frosty minus 1 as I head up the OGR this morning.

I’ve had to add my heavy polartec “10-degree pants’ to my usual wardrobe today.

First light arrives at 6:45, along with a fingernail sliver of orange moon. A coyote trots in the road just below Allison’s spot.

I set up to scope at Nature Trail, despite the very cold temp of minus 22. I find bison but no wolves. No howling either.

So I continue east. I find Jeff packing up at Hellroaring after having no success here. We stop again at Elk Creek but find nothing here either.

He decides to stay here, while I continue east. Just as I’m passing the big ski lot, Jeff radios that I should “come back west”, so I do.

I drive all the way back to S Curves, where the Rescue Pack has been found by tour guide Hannah (she is a former wolf project crew member.)

The pack has a fresh carcass, in an area just east of the trail to the Mary M cabin. Jeff and I scope from S Curves where we can see several well-fed wolves sleeping off their breakfast on two separate bare knobs.

I’ve count 8 black and a large gray, including 1273M, 1393M and 1490. I’m told there are at least 4 pups in this group. Around 9:30, the wolves treat us to a nice rally followed by a lovely group howl.

We know the view is better (and closer) from the long Straightaway lot west of here, but it’s so jammed with tour busses there is no room for Jeff’s camper.

A little later, the busses move on, so we relocate there.

And it IS a better view from here. We can see the bedded wolves plus several individuals moving to and from the carcass gully. My count rises to 14, with 12 blacks and 2 gray.

The morning is still very cold, at minus 10, but I feel quite toasty now that I have wolves in my scope. But after 2 hours of standing in minus degree temps, my poor toes are not happy!

Jeff tells me he’s heard that 1048M is still around!

We see several bloody muzzles on the wolves coming back from the carcass. I follow a single black as it makes its way to the closer of the two hilltop bedding spots.

Jeff points out 1273M who is now heading towards the carcass site for another bite. Despite his bulging stomach, he has the energy to chase a coyote, reminding the smaller canid that the Pack is not finished yet.

Many visitors stop by and get to see these beautiful wolves.

After a while, almost all the wolves are now comfortably bedded on one or the other of their two hills. On a third hill are three impatient coyotes, hoping their turn will be coming soon.

Around noon, my toes convince me to get back in the car. I drive east to see what else is might be going on today.

At the Perch lot I see a handful of visitors out of their cars. They are snapping photos of a pair of mule deer that are grazing the north-side hill, unusually close to the road.

I scope at both Upper and Lower Hellroaring but find only bison and elk.

The sun has finally emerged, barely raising the temp at all but lighting up the snow quite beautifully.

I make my way in to Lamar and stop at Dorothy’s to enjoy the view of steam rising from the Lamar. There are bison in the valley. I stop again at Picnic, to join a guide who is showing his clients a herd of bighorn sheep on the north side.

I spot a single coyote (possibly the three legged one) to the south, bedded above the river bank. Jeff joins me and agrees that the snow is deeper in Lamar than on the Blacktail.

We continue east, stopping at Soda Butte Midpoint to look for Mollies. Instead we find more sheep on the southern cliffs and also nine mountain goats up on Thunderer.

I manage to see the rear end of a moose that guide Rob found but I am too late to see the whole animal. It’s hiding in thick trees.

Around 2:30 the day has warmed all the way to zero! Jeff and I decide to head back to the Blacktail.

A largish group of photographers are squished into the lot east of Floating Island Lake, hoping for a glimpse of the pygmy owl that has been hanging around this area the last few days.

The two deer are still grazing above the Perch lot, a bit higher up. One is a buck; the other a doe.

When we arrive at the Straightaway lot, the temp has finally made it to 7 ABOVE zero and the Rescues are still in good view.

While we enjoy watching the wolves we begin to notice that quite a few hikers are headed out the trail from the Blacktail loo lot. It seems odd that so many hikers are out on such a cold day.

Our concerns prove true: most of these folks went out there specifically to “get closer” to the wolves on their carcass. It’s legal to use the trail but an ill-considered idea to approach wildlife this way, especially on a carcass.

Three hikers leave the trail and begin walking even closer to the wolves bedding spot, just as a few wolves have gotten up and are traveling back to feed again.

These wolves stop when they see the people. They wheel and run back to the bedding spot, and suddenly all the bedded wolves are up. Then they take off running south east with tucked tails.

It’s infuriating to see this result. If the people had been content to stay on the trail, they would likely not have spooked the wolves at all. Many people in the lot took video of the people’s movement. We are all eye-witnesses to their poor decision.

The wolves are now out of view, so Jeff and I go to the loo lot and take photos of the four parked cars. We speak to the people when they return. We are respectfull but We ask if they are aware the wolves ran away because of their presence. We also let them know that people took video of their actions.

As you might expect, we have mixed results.

But Jeff and I both felt it is our duty to speak up. My goal is to encourage them to think twice if they are tempted to do it again.

We both head back to Gardiner shortly after this. On the lower slopes of the OGR, a dozen pronghorn dash across the road, heading west.

Today I saw: bison, coyotes, 2 mule deer, elk, 9 mountain goats, the back end of a moose, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, 14 Rescue Creek wolves (including 1273M, 1393M, 1409F and 9 others) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.