January 4 - Last Day in Yellowstone

I was on the road out of Cooke City at 6:16 am. No wildlife sightings on the way in today. I was at Slough Creek at 7:08 – no howling heard. I was at Boulder at 7:16. No howling there either and it was still too dark to see. It is an amazing experience to be in the middle of Yellowstone National Park and know that you are literally the only person around for miles.  It's magical and awe-inspiring to feel the power and spirit of that place in the solitude...

I started driving back toward Slough Creek and passed Rick, so I turned around. He went to Boulder. We got our scopes out…he was getting Druid signals to the West and 471’s signal a little East. Calvin and Lynette showed up and we all tried but failed to see any wolves. Several times we heard howling…one wolf, very faint.  Bob Landis called from Slough Creek once and did not hear the howling, then 10 minutes  later called again, saying he had howling and a “black dog” but it wasn’t moving.


I followed Rick over to Slough…I wanted to make sure to see a wolf on my last day in the park. We walked out the Slough road to the same spot as yesterday. It was the Druid yearling female, standing down on the flats. She was standing, swaying, not moving otherwise. She usually had her head down and started to actually lower hear rear end at times…but then would jerk herself up.  I have no idea why she chose to stay behind when the others left the area, and even though Rick thought her coat looked to be in better shape than the other wolves who havemange, my gut feeling is that she isn’t going to make it. I hope I’m proven wrong. It was a very, very sad and hard thing to watch. We didn’t hear howling although 471’s signal was very strong but before we got there Bob had heard howling that seemed to come from just behind and above her. I searched and searched but no could not see her.  By then it was snowing heavily and the visibility, even just across Slough Creek, was bad…the slopes above it would have been just about impossible to find a white wolf. Bob left to head to Lamar and we were with a local guide and his customers, letting them peek in our scopes. At one point a coyote came in from the left of the wolf not knowing she was there. When she saw the wolf she started alarm barking and rearing up on her hind legs. The alarm barking/yipping went on for a good 10/15 minutes although she kept moving farther away. The wolf looked at her and didn’t move. Rick was going to move on, I was going to stay hoping to see 471, but Calvin and Lynette called from Wrecker pullout hear the confluence of the Yellowstone and Lamar Rivers and they had the Druids in view…luckily I had just learned where this pullout was, just above the Lamar River Canyon between Slough and Tower. Rick and I both stopped to look for the Silver pack…they weren’t visible. So I continued back to my car.  When I reached Wrecker, Calvin was in his car and Lynette and another woman were at different spots with scopes…no wolves in sight. The wolves had come from the North and down to the river looking like they knew where they were going. Calvin and Lynette had been seeing a lot of bird activity but there was no good vantage point to see the wolves on the carcass due to steep cliffs, etc. – without getting too close ( by law you need to stay at least 100 yards away from wolves but people who really love watching wildlife usually stay farther away than that...far enough away that there is no chance of disturbing the wolves or changing their behaviour). I spotted one of the Druids going up the bank on the South side of the river and we saw bird activity over there. As we watched and it snowed, we started talking about the weather and the approaching storm. It sounded pretty ominous so I decided I better try and get back to Bozeman tonight. I watched longer and the whole pack (this group of the Druids) came up from where I’d seen the black wolf. Earlier, Lynette had wondered who the 6th wolf was since they saw 6 of the Druids, and the yearling female who was with them yesterday was back at Slough Creek. I thought it must be Triangle Blaze, the mange-stricken yearling male we saw all by himself yesterday. Sure enough (Rick was there by then) it was him! I wish I’d seen that reunion.

What a sight…the Druids sitting on the ridge above the river canyon, looking right at us…and I could even see their piercing golden eyes through the scope.

Druids!

I reluctantly left to drive back to Cooke City for my stuff and to turn in my rented scope in Silver Gate, and then I headed back.

There is about 1000 feet of elevaton difference between the Lamar Valley and the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone near Silver Gate and Cooke City, which is why there is so much more snow here.

It was snowing harder by the minute at this point. 

Snowing at Warm Creek

(No moose in sight today)

I had a cool bison sighting at the Soda Butte cone. I stopped to take a picture of the cone in the snow,

Soda Butte

Dormant Hot Spring Dome

and as my car door made a noise, this bison appeared from behind the rock. He just stood there and watched me as I snapped a few pictures and got back in my car.  There was another one just down a hill behind him, drinking from Soda Butte Creek.

Bison Who Surprised Me at Soda Butte

I had another fun coyote sighting also.

Rick passed me around Round Prairie and waved, so I knew there must not be much action in the Lamar Valley, it was only about 1:00 p.m.

The Top of Druid Peak in the Snow

Druid Peak

I love this mountain

As I drove through Lamar the roads got worse and it was really bad headed up to Mammoth…lots of snow on the road. I stopped at the Blacktail area to look for the Blacktail Pack but didn't see them...just a small herd of bull elk.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Down in the brown area just outside of Gardiner, I passed a bunch of Pronghorn running along the river to my right.  The lead doe kept looking at me and then at the road so surmising that they wanted to cross the road (which will make sense if you've read my other trip reports  :)   ) I stopped.  She kept looking at me and eventually led them all across the road. It looked like it was a herd of does along with last year's fawns, who were getting pretty big. One of them got to the pavement and looked at it; put his feet on and off of it several times like he was telling himself "you can do it!  You can do it!" and finally scrambled across...he didn't like the pavement at all and seemed to be getting up his nerve to cross. It was very amusing to watch, I wish I'd gotten it on video.  I also saw some Pronghorn closer to  Roosevelt Arch. 

Pronghorn

Roosevelt Arch looking Southwest

I made it back to I90 and over Bozeman Pass…the temperature changed to 31 degrees right at the pass and instantly it was snow instead of rain.  I had been anticipating it being very slippery or full of snow and it was neither, it was a very easy drive.

I checked into my cheap hotel ($49!!!) that has the nicest owner - homemade banana bread, cookies, chocolate, cider and coffee - all next to a roaring fire.  There's a pet bird - cockatiel I think - and books, puzzles, etc.  It's just very "homey".  The rooms were a little on the "tired" side but large and comfortable.  I'll stay there again - the Lewis and Clark Motel near downtown Bozeman.

I made dinner in my room (soup) and went for a walk all the way through downtown Bozeman and back a little later in the dark.  It's a very nice town, with a pretty and healthy-looking (economically) downtown area.  I could live here...easily.

It was hard to leave the park, and it will be hard to leave the mountains tomorrow. I leave a piece of my soul behind in the mountains  on every trip…
© 2010 Tara Morrison