February Visit to Yellowstone Day 4

Since it snowed Tuesday afternoon and last night, we left around 9:00 am for the park on Wednesday to give the plows time to clear the roads. Visibility was poor, so we opted not to stop at Slough Creek and instead went to Tower Junction to cross country ski to Tower Fall. On the way there, we saw a fox inside a bison carcass in the Lamar Valley. Every now and then, it would poke its head out to chase away the magpies.

The fox looks up the hill to the right. There must have been something above it, because it did this frequently while I was there.

The magpies wanted a tidbit from the carcass, too. It was my luck, because just as I got there, others left because the fox was pretty much inside the ribcage of the carcass and only its back was visible. The magpies arrived, and they drew the fox out for photographs.

The fox glares at the magpies.

The ski to Tower Fall was good exercise and rather scenic. We climbed for just over a mile and a half, and then descended another mile to the fall. After a short break, we headed back, not wanting to get chilled in the 8 degree F weather. On the ski, we saw a coyote in the road ahead of us, and also two elk cows on a hill near the waterfall viewpoint.

Ellen removes a layer before heading back up the hill on the return ski.

The waterfall at Tower was frozen. Amazing!

John takes a quick break from skiing at Tower Fall.

We then drove to the Hellroaring Overlook and drank our hot chocolate. Then, John used the scope to spot two coyote and Ellen found an elk cow. While there, a young couple from Germany stopped to view through the scope with us and we gave them some ideas about where they should go next. We recommended the bison carcass at Lower Hellroaring, as well as the ski and snowshoe trips we'd done, and finally Slough Creek. A young family also stopped to look.

John uses the spotting scope and finds a coyote to the northeast about two miles away.

John looks out over Hellroaring with the north-northwest view behind him.

We encountered the couple and family again at Slough Creek next, where we also talked to the renowned Rick McIntyre. Rick worked as an instrumental wolf researcher for the park since their first release in 1995 and only just retired. He was there recording research notes as he watched the Junction Butte Pack interact. He knew them all by number and was recording their actions in great detail. He was helpful, and made sure I and Pepe, the photographer next to me, had the wolves in our view. Shortly, a tour bus arrived as well as the couple and the family. John was gracious and allowed anyone who wanted to look through the scope. Everyone really enjoyed the late afternoon there.

Three black wolves hang out around the carcass of the bison they killed yesterday at Slough Creek. I believe the rightmost wolf is the alpha male.The wolves are about a mile away.

The female gray (who I think is the alpha female) shows dominance by standing over one of the black pups.

Two gray females and a black male head toward the carcass to feed again.

February is mating season, the female's readiness indicated by her averted tail.

Two black pups play at dusk while another black adult rests in the foreground.

Our goal was to record the wolves howling with the microphone we bought for the trip. We stayed out after sunset, about 6:45, before giving up on that hope. Another man stayed almost as long, and Pepe left just before we did. Maybe tomorrow.

In talking to Pepe and the other man, we learned that 1118F was spotted at the carcass at Hellroaring today. We were happy to hear that!

The day ended with a hike in the dark back to the parking lot, and then a 45-minute drive back to Cooke City where black bean and winter squash chili awaited us in the crockpot.