TIME-TEMPERATURE- WEATHER: Sorry, not recorded but it was a fairly normal day all around. Especially pleasant in the evening.

CROWDS: normal for late May

SUMMARY FOR THE DAY: This becomes my first wolfless day in a long while, which is fairly unheard of for May. Oh well. I did see a lot of bears, though, and take a drive up the Dunraven road (half way).

I see lots of bears today, grizzlies and black bears, AM and PM.

WOLF SIGHTINGS (total; pack; individuals, pullout, time of day): 0 wolves today.

COMMENT: Well, it was bound to happen since the Junction pups are now in a place where we can't see them. I try to make up for my lack of wolves by filling the day with bear sightings

NON-WOLF SIGHTINGS (what & where)

Black bear: 5 black bears for me today. On my way down from Dunraven, I see two different black bears near the Buffalo Paddock (one north, one south). Then at Calcite I briefly see a black bear sow with two cubs of the year.

Grizzly: 8 bears today! Late morning up on the Dunraven road, Faye finds a grizzly on a lower slope of Washburn (Antelope side). Dale finds a second one, far from the other but on the same sloping hill.

There are a few wary elk between the two bears. The bears start walking slowly towards each other, then they meet and begin to wrestle. Aha! They must be siblings.

They make their way towards a patch of snow. One bear pushes the other backwards down the snow patch. It looks like fun for the bears and makes us chuckle.

Then, this evening from Trash Can hill, I find a single griz in Chalcedony fan. He masquerades as a bison for a while but turns broadside often enough to prove he is a bear. From Trashcan

Rick finds the grizzly family with three two-year-olds below the top of Druid Peak. They go in and out of view several times this evening, making many visitors happy.

I see one more grizzly just east of the cone on the south side of the road. He’s following the creek upstream and mostly I just see his back above the sage. A pair of bison, each with a red dog calf, move quickly across the road away from him.

Bison: Various, usual spots. This evening I see a pair of bison, each with a red dog calf, in the Soda Butte Valley, moving from south to north to avoid a grizzly in the creek.

Mule deer: in the high meadows on my way east to SG this evening

Elk: A herd on K Meadow this morning from Geriatric. My first elk calf near the double foothill also from Geriatric. And larger herds on a slope of Washburn from up on Dunraven late morning.

Fox: On the way to SG this evening

Mule deer: several deer grazing on a hill above the Tower store.

Geese: A pair with three goslings on the Lamar from Geriatric

Pronghorn: Lamar and Little America

EARLY MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (first light till 9AM) I join early birds Frank and Paul up on Geriatric today. Ive noticed it always feels more chilly when I don’t have wolves to watch.

We amuse ourselves with non-wolf sightings: a goose family with 3 goslings, several elk on K Meadow and (for me) the first elk calf of the season by the double foothill.

By 8AM we still have no wolves, no howling and no wolf reports from anywhere else.

I decide to try elsewhere. I scope with Rick at Lamar Canyon West, then Aspen, Longs and Boulder. The lighting is excellent there are no wolves to see.

I end up joining Faye and Dale up on Dunraven. I find them scoping from the second railing lot. They have no wolves but Faye finds a grizzly. Then Dale finds a second one, far from the other but on the same sloping hill.

We enjoy watching them a while and a few wary elk between the two bears. The bears start walking slowly towards each other, then they meet and begin to wrestle. Aha! They must be siblings.

They make their way towards a patch of snow. One bear pushes the other backwards down the snow patch. It looks like fun for the bears and makes us chuckle.

LATE MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (9AM-12 noon) Around 10 I head back to Lamar, seeing two black bears near the Buffalo Paddock and then a black bear sow with two cubs at Calcite.

There are mule deer grazing south of the Tower store

I scope again from Lamar Canyon West but by now the heat waves are really bad.

I notice a large crowd up the hill at the original Canyon West lot. People are looking north at a coyote den (there is often one there in the spring). The photographers are out in force and it’s really gotten jammed up there.

Too crowded for me, so I find my way through without stopping to look.

Instead I chat with Bill when I see him at Picnic. I tell him about the Dunraven bears. He has a grizzly family in view to the north, so I enjoy watching them a while. This is the sow with three two year olds.

It’s now after 11 and 65 degrees. It feels VERY warm to me, so I head in.

It’s my first wolf-less morning in a long, long time. I am glad to have seen so many bears, though.

EVENING HIGHLIGHTS (4:30PM-9PM) Maureen and Rick and I go out this evening as usual. They go up Trash Can Hill, while Celia and I scope from Lamar Canyon West.

It seems like the wolves are taking a day (and a night) off.

I go back to Lamar and join my housemates on Trash Can hill. It’s a beautiful warm evening with a nice breeze. We watch bison, pronghorn and a few elk. I spot a single grizzly in Chalcedony fan. He masquerades as a bison but luckily he turns broadside often enough to prove he is a bear.

Rick finds the grizzly family with three two-year-olds below the top of Druid Peak. They go in and out of view several times this evening, making many visitors happy.

A little past 8PM I call it a day and head down to my car.

I see one more grizzly east of the cone. He’s playing hide and seek in deep sage, following the creek upstream. A pair of bison, each with a red dog calf, move quickly across the road away from him.

Before I get to Northeast I see the local fox and numerous mule deer.

TODAY I SAW: 5 black bears (including 2 cubs), 8 grizzlies (including 3 cubs), bison (and calves), coyotes, sandhill cranes, mule deer, elk, a fox, geese (and goslings), pronghorn, no wolves and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:

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)