TIME-TEMPERATURE- WEATHER:

Early AM (first light-9AM): 33 at 4:35AM in SG. Trace of wet snow on the car. Wet snow still falling on the upper part of the drive. Lamar Valley is foggy and so is Slough. The morning is chilly with a stiff wind, but the snow has stopped.

Late AM (9-noon) 40 degrees by 9:30 (feels warm!)

Evening: 4:30-9PM: Cool with a stiff breeze at Slough.

CROWD: Seems normal for May

SUMMARY FOR THE DAY: Junction adults and 6 pups are seen when the fog lifts at Slough this morning. A hunting party leaves around 7:30 going west. 1545M is the babysitter. 1478F is seen briefly at the western end of Jasper by some from Fishermans in the AM.

In the evening, 6 pups and 3 babysitters are seen at Slough. Mollies have a carcass at Round Prairie, not sure how fresh/old. At least 2 grays are seen near it in the evening.

WOLF SIGHTINGS (total; pack; individuals, pullout, time of day): 18 total wolves from two packs

16 Junctions (all adults except 1478F) plus all 6 pups from Slough in the AM

2 Mollies (both gray, one collared) in the evening in RP

COMMENTS (wolves): I saw pups!

NON-WOLF SIGHTINGS (what & where)

Grizzly: Norris Fingers sow with her tiny coy seen from western curve pullout just east of Footbridge. The bears crossed from south to north.

Bison: Soda Butte Valley, Lamar, Slough

Chipmunk: crossed the road just east of the entrance gate.

Coyote: one in RP south in the afternoon

Sandhill crane: Slough

Mule deer: east of the Northeast Entrance

Eagle: 2 at Round Prairie near Mollie’s carcass

Elk: Bedded in spring meadow, also scattered north and east of the Diagonal forest.

Fox: prowling the road at Baronette. I see a second fox (or perhaps the same one around 11:30 near Thunderer.

Geese: Slough

Pronghorn: Lamar, chasing each other in the evening, Slough A grizzly sow with a tiny cub of the year has been seen frequently during May on the Norris fingers, She and her cub are seen coming down to SB creek. She reaches a stand of willows, where she and her cub have a scary encounter with one of the Mollies, an uncollared gray male. The wolf seems so huge next to them.

The wolf is interested in the cub but mom defends her tiny babe, charging the wolf as necessary but not lunging so far as to put too much distance between her and the cub. The encounter is quite suspenseful to watch.

I now have a better opinion of this mama griz. I also feel the bears were lucky they met only one of the Mollies!

EARLY MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (first light till 9AM) First stop is at Slough in the Gravel Pile lot 5:30PM. Many, many people already in place. Poor visibility due to fog obscuring the den area.

Those on Daves Hill (Frank, Paul, Ginny) have already seen one black adult in the den area. 5:45 a lovely group howl breaks out. As fog begins to clear, I see two grays run towards the eastern trees, joining a post-howl rally with three blacks.

Two blacks move down to the sage den, which gives me my first glimpse of what I came for - pups! I see two. Pups do not stay out long. Next hour has little activity. At 7:20 howl, followed by a rally near the eastern trees. A large collared black with white on the backs of his front legs (alpha 1392) appears from behind the flower hill.

1385F is in the midst of the rally, as is everyones favorite, 1479F. The uncollared gray is here, being his bouncy Tigger self.

Hunting party of 7 blacks (including alphas) and 2 grays head west, passing the parrot rock towards Aspen Pass. Several small elk herds take notice and give way but the wolves do not seem interested in them.

GPS black 1545M remains at sage den for a bit, then scent trails the hunting party for a while, only to return a bit later. He is the babysitter and the pups love him.

Switch to the eastern lot with Rick. 1545M is bedded near it.

The only adult Junction we did not see today is 1478F, who has denned behind Jasper Bench this year, sadly due to disfunction between her and the other females.

Two bison approach 1545M, make him move (twice) before they head off east. Four elk are bedded above the spring meadow. We have seen this happen a lot during the first month of denning. The elk feel safe and apparently find the grass to be greener here.

8:15, 1545M goes to the sage den opening and out come the pups! This time I see five little wobblers. They are very cute. They roam about on their short little legs, bumping into each other.

1545 moves downslope and a bold pup begins to follow him. But when none of his siblings follow, he gallumps back up to safety. All too soon, they disappear inside.

LATE MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (9AM-12 noon) It has gotten warm (40!) so I head to Lamar. Celia was there earlier and spotted 1478F on the west end of Jasper, near the island of trees from Fishermans.

I scope from Dorothys with others but never find her.

Around 10:15 I continue east and end up joining a throng of visitors at Footbridge. Cars are parked haphazardly on both sides of the road all the way to the Cone. I find better parking at Western Curve.

This jam is due to the Norris Fingers grizzly sow with her tiny coy. I see them to the south above the creek, running in spurts, with her little one galloping gamely after her.

Once she is across the creek, she parallels the water heading east just above the north side bank. For a while I cannot see the cub at all and only the back of mom. She comes into the open again, aiming for the 480 crossing.

Despite all the excited people, she and cub cross without mishap. I watch them climb the north-side hill in the direction of the old Druid den.

The cub is very dark but has a thin light stripe on its tiny shoulder. Mom is a traditional Yellowstone grizzly, medium brown with the Yellowstone stripe.

By 11AM they are out of sight, so I head east to SG

EVENING HIGHLIGHTS (4:30PM-9PM) At Round Prairie, I see lots of people and cars. I recognize Wayne so I stop near him. He says Mollies have a carcass in the creek to the south. I see a lump in the creek straight south from where I stand in the logs pullout. A collared gray is walking west from that lump. It stops to do a flexed leg and back scratch. I suppose this could be 1339M, although other Mollies males have been seen doing this.

I see two bald eagles perched in willows nearby. Following the first gray leads me to a second gray at the edge of the trees.

I thank Wayne and continue west, stopping to scope at Dorothys. I see pronghorn chasing each other and numerous bison calves being cute with the zoomies.

At Slough I find many less people than this morning. I stop in Dougs lot. As I am getting set up, a tall visitor named Jim says the pups are out.

I see all six pups with trusty sitter 1545M. It is a truly delightful sighting as they wobble about, tussling and playing follow the leader.

Two other adults are in the area, one of which is the uncollared yearling (cocoa brown/black). Not sure who the third adult is.

All too soon the pups scurry back underground. 1545M remains on guard while the other yearling tools around in the spring meadow.

Later, all three adults converge at the sage den. Two pups pop back out to say nighty-night, then retreat inside.

7PM the wind forces me back to my car and on to Silver Gate.

WHAT I MISSED: Apparently Mollies got something in Round Prairie, either last night or this morning. But I heard no mention of it all day. Came upon it this evening.

TODAY I SAW: 2 grizzly bears (including one coy), bison (and calves), a chipmunk, sandhill cranes, mule deer, 2 bald eagles, elk, two foxes, pronghorn, 18 wolves (16 Junctions. All adults except 1478F, plus all 6 pups) and 2 Mollies (both gray, one collared) and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS I USE, 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)