|
|
|
| Wednesday, June 2, 1999
- We're up before dawn and return to the same three spots looking for griz
-- still nothing -- but we get some great photo ops of Yellowstone Lake.
Sleepily, we start long drive to Canyon (Dunraven pass is still closed
due to a large snowdrift overhanging the road) to Norris to Mammoth. We
stop in Hayden Valley, where some people with scopes share their view of
coyote pups playing outside their den on the other side of the river. As
we near Willow Park, Carol shouts "Moose!" We pull off and scamper out
of the car to look, but alas, there was no moose in sight, so we head on
to Mammoth.
After getting situated in the Mammoth Hotel and we're back on the road toward Tower. We stop at Udine Falls on road, take the pleasant short hike to Wraith Falls, and stop at Blacktail Deer Lakes turnout where there are some folks with scopes. We're just in time to see a wolf that they had been watching for a while feeding on a lakeside carcass head up a hill. A WOLF! We expected to see elk, bison and mule deer, and coyote pups were a bonus, but a wolf was too much to ask for! We didn't get a picture of the wolf, but below is the carcass where he was feeding, between the two ponds. |
|
 |
|
 |
We stop at Tower
ranger station for a little info, then on to Tower Falls, most impressive and very wet! We are once again thankful for our rain gear. Can you see the miniature truck in this picture of Tower Falls?! |
| Back on the road heading east to Lamar Valley, we stop to see a prong horned antelope. We stop again at Slough Creek turnout to talk to some nice folks watching for wildlife, and then head further east until we hit the road construction. We stop at the turnout in near the Yellowstone Association buildings and watch the wildlife at a distance. As we sat in our car, a thunderstorm came over the ridge and enveloped us with wind, rain, and hail! Both the storm and the clearing sky put on a great show. | |
 |
|
| Soon, in the distance we see a newborn elk calf stumbling along after Mama. But, as a guy in the crowd remarked, "We want predators!" (We wonder now if any of the folks we talked to on this trip who had scopes and binoculars ever post on the "Total Yellowstone Chat" web page that we love to read!). As the light starts to fade -- no moose -- no griz. We head back west, stopping once more at the Blacktail Deer Lakes turnout. There it is, again! The same wolf, descending the opposite hill, trots in the direction of the carcass but then stops, and heads back along ridge as darkness falls. | |