I find no frost on my windshield this morning. And better yet, it’s a “toasty” 26 degrees.

Today will be my last morning for a while, so I sure hope I see some wolves today. We start with good visibility at Nature Trail, but still find no wolves.

At Hellroaring we are treated to a cool looking, very red sunrise. Rick joins us, but says he’s had no luck finding wolves to the east, either.

I still go east anyway.

I go all the way through Tower and Little America, enjoying the scenery but still no wolves. I scope the Slough area from Lamar Canyon West to scope the Slough area.

Nothing.

I chat with Rick and Jeremy a bit at Lamar Bridge, where I learn the Junctions are likely in the trough. He also says the Rescues are still to the south but likely not in sight.

I move on to Boulder and scope there a while. I struggle to remember the last time I’ve had three wolfless days in a row. I see a couple of coyotes, many bison, and two small herds of elk.

I head further west and find Jeff and Krisztina scoping at Elk Creek. We hear a single coyote howling and Krisztina finds it down in Yancy’s hole.

She and I decide to try scoping from Hellroaring while Jeff stays here. She gives me some sweet gifts for my birthday.

It’s getting to be time for me to head back to Bozeman. It will be a disappointing way to leave.

I say goodbye to Krisztina, telling her I will stop at Nature Trail on my way. She says she will scope from here a bit longer.

But as I near the North Butte lot, I see Jack (Wolf Tracker) with his two clients. All three scopes are pointing back to the southeast.

His clients are a wonderful couple that I met with Tom Murphy a couple of years ago. I stop and ask what they’re seeing.

“Wolves!”

OMG! Finally!

I park and set up, breathless with anticipation. Suddenly I have wolves in my scope again! Three black wolves, bedded on a high, snowy knoll, quite a distance away. Jack says he thinks it must be Rescues. He adds that he suspects they have a carcass (below them, out of sight, naturally!)

I don’t know how Jack found them but I am so happy I almost kiss him!

I grab my radio and call Kristina. I ask her call Jeff. She says he’s at Elk Creek and probably won’t hear either of us.

Well, I simply cannot enjoy watching wolves when my friends are unaware of them, so when Krisztina arrives, I drive back east. When I get to Hellroaring I try to reach Jeff. He replies “copy” so I turn around and head back.

Miraculously, there is still space for me to park. Several other people have since arrived, including Milo (whom I met last year. His truck has all this cool Navaho art).

My reward is that even more wolves are now in view, in fact, I’m up to 10 now, 9 blacks and 1 gray. I also see birds, a sure sign of their carcass out of sight below them.

A group of six are bedded on the highest knob. The others mill around here and there.

There is a fun optical illusion as we watch the action. The wolves’ carcass is out of sight in a “pocket” below the high hill where they are bedded, The foreground ridgeline of the “pocket” is about half way down the high hill, but that ridgeline has been rendered basically invisible due to the thick uniform snow which obscures any markers like shrubs or rocks. The distance and the angle of the sun also contribute.

From our vantage point, it looks like one unbroken snowy hillside. So, when some of the bedded wolves get up and start to run down towards the carcass, they just vanish like Frodo putting on The One Ring.

This happens with ravens too. They suddenly flush up into view, then utterly disappear as they head down. We all get a kick out of it.

A few bison come through from the southeast, displacing the remaining bedded wolves. This makes them move here and there, which is good for us.

The bison disruption inspires some playful romping by the youngsters, which is a delight to see.

Jeff gets here quickly and thanks me for calling him. Some of the wolves challenge the bison but eventually back off.

Four blacks end up moving to a different spot, also in good view. I see a total of 10 wolves come up from the carcass area, romping and tackling, which ups my count to 14 (12 blacks and 2 grays).

They have a rally which some wolves just watch instead of joining. Maybe they are too full to move!

It’s much too far away to see collars but I’m not complaining. It’s a long view but a good one. I always like it when wolves seem to be having fun.

I stay another half hour, enjoying the sighting and the company. Then before I go I celebrate by giving out chocolate to everyone.

Michael (Wolftracker) and JoJo K arrive and find room to park. It’s nice to see people having fun, too. It’s a very good way to end my trip.

At 12:30 I pack up and start for Bozeman

Thank you, Jack, for making my day!

There is quite a bit of wind on 89 as I head back north. At Livingston, it’s so bad they’ve had to close the entrance ramp to 90.

When I finally join the highway from the frontage road, I see there are NO TRUCKS AT ALL! Apparently 90 is closed to trucks quite a ways east of Livingston.

Well, this another of Wendy’s dreams to come true! To drive 90 all the way over the pass with only cars for company.

Happy belated birthday to me!

Today I saw: bison, coyotes, elk, pronghorn, 14 Rescue wolves (12 blacks and 2 gray) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.