TIME-TEMPERATURE- WEATHER:

Early AM (first light-9AM): Clear, 38 from SG

Late AM (9-noon) 60 at 11AM

Evening: 4:30-9PM Perfect weather for Memorial Day weekend; temps in the mid 60s, clean, clear air, bright blue skies, puffy clouds. At Slough the temp is 68!

Snow Level (roads/landscape):

Water/Ice Level (ponds and rivers):

CROWD: Crazy busy today. Two enormous bear jams, one of which led to a bison stampede, and an evening carcass jam, too.

OVERNIGHT NEWS There is a dead bison south of Slough close to the road.

SUMMARY FOR THE DAY: A busy Memorial Day Sunday with a new nearby carcass for the Junctions, a huge bear jam in Lamar, brief Mollie sighting in Lamar, then more pup and adult Junction sightings in the evening. Plus, Becky arrives in Yellowstone driving her van!

WOLF SIGHTINGS (total; pack; individuals, pullout, time of day): 16 wolves total (from 2 packs)

15 Junctions 7B/2G adults (including 1385F, 1479F, 1484M, 1489M, 1545M, the uncollared yearling, limping black adult and non-limping black adult, uncollared gray and all 6 black pups) at Slough from Dave’s in the early morning

1 Mollies wolf (a gray male) near their den forest from Geriatric in the late morning

In the evening at Slough, four babysitters: 1479F, 1484M, 1489M and the non-limping dark black adult attend the 6 pups.

COMMENT: Maureen and Rick and I wish Laurie and Dan could be here, enjoying such great pup sightings. But Dan is still recovering and Laurie wants to wait a few more days.

NON-WOLF SIGHTINGS (what & where)

Grizzly: 7 grizzlies today! 3 in the AM: the mixed family of sow, yearling and two-year old north of the road between Mid-point and Trash Can 9-10AM and 4 in the evening: the sow with three yearlings, north of Hubbard, much further away.

Bison: Various, usual places

Coyote: 2 in the Slough flats, watching the wolves at the new carcass in the AM

Sandhill crane: Slough, from Daves in the AM

Mule deer: several in the owl meadow in the evening

Eagle: at Slough near the Junction’s new carcass in the AM

Elk: I don’t see any elk in the den area today. I wonder if one of them became their new carcass?

Fox: a local fox on the road near the “former” pothole bridge in the PM

Geese: a pair at Slough with four goslings seen from Daves in the AM

Moose: a single moose at Trout Lake on my way east in the evening

Pronghorn: Slough and Lamar

Ravens: Slough, near the new Junction carcass in the AM

Cinnamon Teal: a pair in Slough creek seen from Daves in the AM

SPECIAL NARRATIVE: Around 9:15 heading east through Lamar I find The Mother of All Bear Jams. From Hubbard Hill to Trash Can the road is lined with cars off the road both north and south (and some only partly off the road) plus bumper to bumper two-way traffic.

It is due to a family of grizzly bears, unusually close to the road.

I learn that it is the mixed family (sow with one yearling and one two-year old). Two rangers and several orange-vested assistants all have their hands full getting road-blocking cars to re-park or move altogether.

I find a safe place to pull over near Maureen and Rick and Doug McCartney in one of the log pullouts.

There are groups of people on every hillside north of the road, as well as on the south. Some are WAY TOO CLOSE to these bears, including some regular photographers who know better and are setting a poor example for first time visitors.

But many, many other people are safely enjoying the sight of these three beautiful bears. All look healthy. I suspect the family wanted to cross to the south. Alas, there is no way that was going to happen on Memorial Day Sunday this late in the morning (9-10AM).

To me, the bears do not look stressed, but I do think they would have preferred to be able to cross unimpeded.

By around by 10:15 the trio has moved higher to the north. A large bison herd with many calves is grazing another level above the bears. The bison freak out when the bears top a rise near them. They herd bunches and thundered downslope to the east, aiming for the road between Picnic and Trash Can.

So now, the slow-moving traffic has to stop for a stampede of bison heading right for the road. These visitors must feel like they are on a Disneyland-like ride: THE WILD YELLOWSTONE BISON RIDE.

EARLY MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (first light till 9AM) This morning as I approach Slough, Frank (on Daves) alerts me to wolves in the flats. So, I park at Dougs lot since that has a better view of the area than the eastern lot.

Turns out the Junctions have a fresh carcass in the thick willows at the base of the berm below Aspen Pass.

I see the uncollared yearling bedded that berm, and I can see the backs and tails of two or three wolves feeding on the carcass below that.

I also see two adults in the den area, the uncollared gray and 1479F.

Shortly after Rick arrives, we head up to Daves where we will get a better view of the carcass area. 1479F has started down to the flats for a second breakfast.

The uncollared yearling has gotten up and is now returning to the den via the small Diagonal forest, passing two uncollared blacks (one is the limper) who are headed down.

It is lucky for the Junctions to have a carcass so close to their den.

The uncollared gray gets the pup action started this morning when he sticks his nose inside the den. Out they come. Most pups head straight for the alpha female who is bedded to the left. These pups receive a nursing. Later in the day, 1479 nurses them, too.

Daves is absolutely jammed with visitors today, without scopes or even binoculars. Rick shares his scope and encourages the rest of us to do so, too. I am usually always happy to do so, but there are so many people I dont get to study the Junctions as much as I like to.

1545M returns from the carcass and is mobbed by the pups. He leads them around for a while, providing some interesting wolf behavior for first-time visitors to see. I love being able to show people how the young males in this pack are such good and enthusiastic babysitters for the pups.

At the carcass 1484M and 1489M are feeding.

I leave at 9AM in hopes of seeing Mollies in Lamar

LATE MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (9AM-12 noon) Its almost 10:30 when the bears are on their way to Druid Peak and the last of the stampeding bison finally clear the road at Trash Can. Traffic finally proceeds normally and I am able to join fellow watchers on Geriatric.

Glenda found a bedded gray on the western slope of Mt. Norris, then a second one joined the first.

By the time Maureen and Rick and I are set up, the first wolf has already disappeared. We see the second bedded gray, but almost immediately he gets up and moves downhill. I find him one level below for an instant but then lose him in thick trees. This is where we suspect their den is.

At 11AM it is already 60, so I head east

EVENING HIGHLIGHTS (4:30PM-9PM) As I near Slough around 5PM, I see yet another enormous jam, this one just west of the entrance to the Campground Road. Beyond that spot, the road is lined with cars on both sides all the way down towards the bridge.

Traffic is at a virtual standstill. I radio Celia. She says the jam is for a bison carcass south of the road. She says there is plenty of parking if I can make it down.

Hundreds of people are now gathered in a thick semi-circle looking down at the dead bison. Hundreds of cars are stopped or trying to park. Dozens of people are leaving their cars, walking quickly towards the crowd.

The jam makes getting in or out of the Slough lot nearly impossible, but I hold my patience and finally manage to sneak past the gawkers.

I join my buds and use my bandanas to look through the sun glare at four adult Junctions: 1479F, 1484M, 1489M and the non-limping dark black adult. We also see the pups.

As we watch the wolves, Celia fills us in on the big jam. She and Glenda took a peek at it about an hour ago. The carcass was discovered sometime yesterday. It is above the Lamar, about half-way between the road and the river, which is very close. The hill west of the Slough lot that juts out to the south from the road offers a close overlook view.

They watched a single coyote trying to open it up. Of course, the crowd was convinced it was a wolf.

She figures it either died naturally or hit by a car and got that far before it died, because nothing big has fed on it yet. We all agree that its unlikely any wolves or grizzlies will attempt to feed on it during daylight. But most Memorial Day visitors don’t know that.

My intrepid friend Becky C arrives and joins us, delighted to see us and the Junction pups. She has reached another milestone in her brave fight to survive cancer by driving all by herself in the van she and Chloe bought, all the way from Missoula, after an overnight stop at my place in Bozeman.

Yay Becky!

She will say at Mammoth Campground for several days.

While we watch the Junction pups, Becky and I make plans to meet and share sightings over the next couple of days. As the light fades, temps begin to drop.

Around 7:45 I head back east, finding another huge bear jam in Lamar for a different family of bears north of the road.

SPECIAL NARRATIVE In Dougs lot this morning is a family from Indiana (mom, dad and young adult daughter) whom I help to see the Junctions. The daughter tells me she is here because she listened to a podcast by Rick. She wanted to see wolves more than anything. I grin and tell her Rick will be here any minute and that I will introduce her.

And that is just what happens. Rick is polite and charming and asks lots of questions of the young woman, which she answers impressively. She is thrilled and her parents just beam with pride.

TODAY I SAW: 7 grizzlies (including five cubs), bison (and calves), sandhill cranes, mule deer, elk, geese and goslings, a moose, pronghorn, 2 cinnamon teal, 16 wolves (including 15 Junctions: 1385F, 1479F, 1484M, 1489M, 1545M, the uncollared yearling, limping black adult and non-limping black adult, uncollared gray and all 6 black pups) plus 1 Mollies wolf (gray male) 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)