We sleep in this morning and finally get going at 9:15. It’s another clear day at a very comfortable 42 degrees.

We see the usual elk, bison and pronghorn on our way up.

At the North Butte lot I see Jeremy’s empty car. No doubt he is scoping somewhere nearby.

We continue east but find Hellroaring deserted.

Once we reach Little America, the radio comes alive. It appears that the Junctions are visible south of the Lamar Bridge.

Becky and I see Jeff and Rick here, so we stop. They help us find several wolves just east of Crystal Creek. It’s thought that they have yet another carcass in that spot.

However, Sian and other wolf watchers are looking north, trying to locate two black wolves that were seen earlier traveling east from Hellroaring.

We head to Lamar Canyon West, where we join Sian. Krisztina is here, too, and it’s great to see her.

She has already located the group of Junctions near Crystal that we saw from the bridge lot. Then she finds the two blacks, heading in the direction of the e Marge Simpson tree.

Becky and I see both sets of wolves, shaking our heads and smiling again at our continued wolf luck.

The two blacks are likely the ones missing yesterday – and were very likely to have remained at the carcass just as we suspected. One has a slight limp. Both are uncollared.

The two sets of wolves begin howling back and forth to each other.

The larger group gets up and heads downhill, re-appearing just beyond a stand of young aspen. They bed down in the open, continuing to exchange howls with the two to the north.

Several wolves from the main group move further downslope, stopping to pose among large boulders, while continuing to howl.

The non-limping black gets up and heads south, in an apparent attempt to join the larger group. We follow him as he crosses the flats, while the limping black rests on the snowy hill left of Marge.

The main pack gets up and begins to go back uphill. But then they change course and go back downhill.

Some of them move more west than north but overall it looks like they’ve decided to cross the road.

The wolf project heads to the bridge in case it becomes necessary to stop traffic. But, at this time of year there are so many less people in the Park, and most are more wildlife-savvy than the summer crowds, it might not be needed.

In any case, after about a half hour, someone radios that all 9 Junctions of the main group have made it across without incident.

Now the limping black heads south, as if he somehow knows the others are coming. I lose him after he passes the Southern Round tree.

Jeff and a few others have climbed Dave’s Hill in anticipation of the wolves meeting up. He now reports that the pack is all together, having a big rally. Our view of this is blocked.

People start hiking out to Bob’s. I park the car in the sun at Slough so Becky can nap. She just lowers the seat and I give her a make-shift pillow.

I head out with my scope, intending to hike to Bob’s thinking the wolves are low in the flats. But I run into Calvin and Lynette just 100 yards from the lot.

The wolves have already climbed up high enough for us to see them from here.

The full pack is now just west of Aspen Pass, heading east! This route will take them to the traditional den area.

This is very exciting for us, since it could be a sign that the females intend to den here in a few weeks.

I watch them pass the parrot rock and the western trees, thrilled to see them in this area. If they end up denning here, it will mean grea pup-viewing days during May.

Several wolves bed down just east of the western trees. A couple of blacks cross the meadow to the eastern trees and disappear behind the “flower” hill.

The uncollared pup/yearling explores the cliff area by the natal den. I squeal happily when it sticks its head inside.

After a few more minutes, though, despite so many eyes watching, we lose sight of the entire pack! They are most likely behind the “flower” hill or maybe they slipped away into the Diagonal forest.

Everyone looks hard but not a single wolf is found.

I do find a pair of bighorn rams on the rocky knobs.

Around 3PM Sleeping Becky awakes. With wolves no longer in view, we head west again.

When we arrive in Gardiner, we unexpectedly find Wonderland open (it’s been closed since we arrived) so we decide to ndulge in a nice early dinner.

Our meals are excellent, and our server is charming.

Afterwards, we head back to the motel to crash.

Today I saw: bison, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep all 11 Junctions and the spirits of Allison, Richard, Jeff and Chloe.