TIME-TEMPERATURE- WEATHER:

Early AM (first light-9AM): Cooler today at 42 as I leave Cooke

Late AM (9-noon) very pleasant in the lower 60’s. I leave around 10:30AM

CROWD: normally busy, but the slo-goes are out in force!

SUMMARY FOR THE DAY: A few of us finally saw Junction pups today very briefly. We had watched 1489 and 1545 from the Ranch, tooling around near the carcass in Lamar for a couple of hours before crossing north on their way back to the pups. We get to Slough in time to see 1489M. I keep my scope on the small clearing and see 1489M arrive there and be greeted by at least 2 pups. It’s been 26 days since anyone has seen them!

WOLF SIGHTINGS (total; pack; individuals, pullout, time of day): 4 wolves total (all Junctions)

4 Junction wolves, including 1489M, 1545M and TWO PUPS!)

Both 1489 and 1545 spent a good deal of the early morning in Lamar Valley. They eventually travelled (separately) north and crossed the road near Coyote, seen from the Ranch roadside. While 1489 is still in Lamar we relocate to Bob’s Knob. We’re too late to see 1545M but catch 1489M crossing the Slough area, then climbing to Aspen Pass.

When 1489 goes out of sight, I focus on the small clearing I noticed yesterday, the one with the vertical trail and the white log. 1489 appears on the trail and I see two pups above him. As he and the two pups disappear behind the Doug fir, another adult appears above the white log, with two pups, one on either side of him. They all disappear behind the Doug fir (going east). It’s very brief but thrilling.

COMMENT: I may have seen 4 total pups today, but I only saw 2 at a time and I don’t count wolves twice. Same goes for the unknown black adult I definitely saw with pups (one on each side). 1489 had just moved out of sight but the two pups were ahead of him, so they could have crossed unseen to the second adult even in the few seconds that passed.

I am sure I saw a second adult, since that wolf showed up above the log at the same moment 1489 was passing behind the tree trunk. It could have been 1545M, though so thats why I dont claim 3 adults today.

NON-WOLF SIGHTINGS (what & where)

Grizzly: 6 bears today! Three individual bears walking away from the carcass after having fed in the dark. Then the sow with two yearlings was up on Amethyst in good view for a while when we temporarily had no wolves around 7AM from Ranch roadside.

Bison: All over

Coyote: a coyote in the flats south of the Ranch tries several times to snatch a pronghorn fawn. He does not succeed today!

Mule deer: I see mule deer in the owl meadow on the way down in the AM

Eagle: we see a bald eagle among the birds at the carcass

Elk: in Mammoth

Geese: Lamar

Pronghorn: saw the group of females with several fawns again to day in Lamar (AM)

EARLY MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (first light till 9AM) It is much cooler this morning at 42 degrees. There are puddles everywhere from the overnight rain.

I join Paul at the Ranch again, looking south at the Amethyst carcass. It is very chilly this morning due to a stiff breeze. I am glad I brought my down coat!

So far, Paul has seen 3 bears and one wolf. I see the bears; two on Amethyst bench walking up slope, and the other in the flat walking east.

The wolf is currently out of sight in the deep gully. As the light improves and more watchers arrive, the wolf remains hidden. People start to doubt his existence until Rick spots a black head and ears.

Finally, the whole wolf appears. It’s a bling-collared brindle black that turns out to be 1489M. He moves east a bit, and I notice a distinct front leg limp. Then he is down in the gully again. I don’t know when he got that injury, but we didnt see him yesterday and I haven’t seen him since the end of May.

An entire hour goes by while 1489M remains out of sight in the gully. We content ourselves by watching a coyote unsuccessfully attempt to snatch some pronghorn fawns from their watchful mothers.

Then someone finds a bear family further up on Amethyst bench, it is the sow with two yearlings. They entertain us for a while.

Around 7AM, Missy and Andy join us, as does Helena. These new arrivals bring us luck because finally 1489M emerges from the gully and sets off to the west. He swims the Lamar and when he emerges, I get my first clue that he is male, not female.

Meanwhile, watchers on Dorothys Knoll have noticed a large gathering of ravens in the river bottom just below the east end of Jasper Bench. There are many, many birds sitting on the sandbars, as if waiting their turn. It is clear that something edible is hidden in the thick willows on the far side of the river.

As 1489 limps his way west, another wolf, a dark black, emerges from those willows. Aha! This second wolf is GPS collar 1545M. The two wolves are clearly aware of each other but they do not greet nor interact (this is my second clue that the wolf is 1489, not 1479.)

1545M moves west and 1489M enters the willow area to get another snack.

1545M stops to howl, then sets off north, just as he did yesterday. Despite all the people, he crosses the road with east between Dorothy’s and Coyote and aims for Secret Passage.

A half hour later, 1489M comes out of the willows and continues west. He beds near a stand of cottonwoods for a while. He finds a cache, digs it up and eats it. Then he heads north with purpose.

LATE MORNING HIGHLIGHTS (9AM-12 noon) Missy and Andy and I relocate to Bobs Knob, but arrive too late to see 1545M. Others have already seen him go through Aspen Pass. But we do see 1489M. Despite his current limp, he has already gained the flats just west of the campground road near the gravel pile lot.

A guide in the lot below us, Andreas (famous to me for finding the grizzly sow with 5 coys last year) radios that he’s just spotted 3 pups in the spot where 1545M disappeared.

He describes to Rick where he saw them, and it’s the same small clearing I saw with the white fallen log and the game trail. I train my scope on that spot and wait for 1489M to appear after crossing Aspen Drainage.

Just like yesterday, I get a flash of a black wolf at the top of the trail. A PUP! This time Im sure!

It is just a fleeting glimpse; already gone. Five happy minutes later, 1489M appears at the bottom of the game trail. Above him now are TWO PUPS!

Several people (including Missy) see two pups, some see three, all black, at the top of the game trail near the thick-trunked tree. It’s as if they came down to greet him.

1489 (and the pups) disappear behind the Doug fir, but then another black adult appears above the white log with two pups, one on either side.

It’s only seconds, but very satisfying. The second adult and the pups all disappear into shadow and thick vegetation, going slightly right (east) the same way 1489 disappeared.

We talk excitedly about what each of us saw. I could have seen four pups total but only two at a time, and the vegetation is so thick there I could easily have seen the same two pups twice.

We are elated. It has been 26 days since we saw the Junction pups, so its great to have seen them again, even so briefly. I'm betting that as more days pass, they will begin moving to areas easier to see.

Missy and I both have the same impression: that these pups were coming down from their usual spot to greet the incoming wolves, and that their home base is likely above and maybe east of this slope with the white log.

We hug each other in celebration. We are both thrilled that we got to share this historic sighting.

A half hour passes with no more sightings, so its time to head back to our cars. Missy and Andy are staying one more day but I need to get back to Bozeman.

SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT 1479/1489. Some people felt the first wolf we saw today was 1479F but I believe it was 1489M. They are similar-looking wolves, both brindle with bling collars. But my argument began when I looked at the belly area after the wolf swam the river. I saw no evidence of recent lactation. I know 1479 would not still have milk this late in June, but a wet coat would still show some mammary evidence, and there was none.

When I saw 1479F yesterday, I noticed her belly evidence. Also, she had no limp yesterday. Of course, she may have been injured overnight, but there is still the lack of belly evidence on this wolf Finally, the bling-collar wolf we watched today exhibited behavior unlike 1479F.

Among other things, including a lack of interaction with 1545M, this wolf took several rests along his journey, including one of about an hour. 1479F, limp or no, would persevere back to the pups first, and take her rest once she got there.

Of course, despite all this evidence I still could be wrong!!!!

TODAY I SAW: 6 grizzlies (including 2 cubs), bison (and calves), coyotes, mule deer, a bald eagle, pronghorn (and fawns), 4 Junction wolves (including 1489M, 1545M and TWO PUPS!) 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 hill’s 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)