February Visit to Yellowstone Days 1, 2 & 3

With much colder temperatures (low of -15F and high of 18F) and lots more snow, Yellowstone was breathtaking. On Sunday, as we drove into the park toward our accommodations in Cooke City, we saw several park vehicles and a plastic stretcher of sorts at the Lower Hellroaring Pullout. Besides that, we didn't see any activity other than a pair of coyote in the road in the Lamar Valley, so we spent the afternoon settling in.

An anxious coyote makes its way along the highway in the Lamar Valley.

We got up early Monday to arrive at the park just after sunrise. We saw some moose along Soda Butte Creek, just like last time. We hiked at Slough Creek but as we headed up the valley, we began sinking into the snow past the knee, so we turned around. We had hoped to see the Junction Butte pack there who had a carcass further up the valley. We moved on.

Much to our suprise and happiness, we saw 1118F beside the road just before Tower Junction. She crossed the road right in front of our car! John stopped so I could get out, grab the new Sigma 150-600mm lens, my camera, and tripod. In the rush, I left my gloves in the car. Big mistake for 15 degrees below zero! Anyway, I photographed her handheld at first, as she was moving away and I wanted to take advantage of her close proximity. Her right front leg is still injured and she hopped along for three steps, then rested, and so on. Three coyotes were harrassing her.

1118F crosses the road at Tower Junction. She was a member of the Molly pack who set out on her own to start her own pack. She found a mate, but unfortunately, in October he was shot and killed in Wyoming, and everyone's best guess is that she was also shot. We saw her in December, limping through the Lamar Valley. We were so happy to see she was still alive and looking healthy (but still severely gimpy)!

One of the three coyote who were harrassing 1118F, this one barking at her.

After seeing 1118F, we drove to Yellowstone Picnic Area and snowshoed up toward the Specimen Ridge Trail. We had great views of the Yellowstone River with steam rising from hot springs along the bank. We had great views but didn't see any wildlife. It was a difficult snowshoe with deep snow and a starting elevation of around 6,500 feet.

Ellen snowshoes up the Yellowstone River toward Speciment Ridge.

Ellen looks down to the hot springs emptying into the Yellowstone River, which send up plumes of steam.

After that, we drove all the way to the Lower Hellroaring Pullout where there was a dead bison. It had been sick and had died of natural causes in the night. We figured that the ranger activity we saw there on our way in was probably the park service moving the bison away from the road. Several coyote were taking their turns at the carcass, while ravens and a bald eagle snatched tidbits as well. One coyote walked a bison path away from the carcass, rubbing its snout in the snow to clean its face. It followed the path all the way to the road and crossed a few feet in front of me. I had to quickly zoom out from 600mm to 150mm and focus on the fly.

Snow on the nose from cleaning its snout, the coyote makes it was along a bison path after feeding on the bison carcass.

The coyote crossed the road just a few feet in front of me.

It was a satifsying first day with the highlight of seeing 1118F and knowing she was still alive. On her own, injured, and winter...what an animal with spirit.

Today, (Tuesday), we left a little earlier and were in the park just as the sun was coming up. We saw a fox on a steep staircase in Silver City--our first fox. We also saw the otter in the Lamar River. There was a small crowd forming at Slough Creek, but it looked mostly like tours, so we didn't stop. We drove to Elk Creek and, seeing nothing, decided to go back to Slough Creek to see what was happening. Good choice! The Junction Butte Pack of 11 wolves had a bison surrounded. They were quite a distance away, about a mile, too much for my lens set up even with the converter, but I still got some shots that tell the story. John got some great video using the Lumix and the Zeiss scope.

The pack begins to harrass the bison. On the hill above left, three black wolves watch.

Same photo, cropped to the action.

The wolves keep at the bison, eventually bringing her down.

Click below for

JOHN'S VIDEO OF THE ATTACK

We arrived there at about 9:30 and stayed for five hours to watch as the pack took down a bison. They wore it down over the hours. There was a crowd of about 30 people with us, mostly from tours. The wolves finally went for the bison and pulled her down. She got up again, they pulled her down again, and she got up once more. The battled drifted behind a small hill, so we could no longer see. We then decided to try a different vantage point where there were only three people. We still couldn't see the bison, but we could see the wolves as they headed up the hill one by one with visibly bulging bellies.

Ellen makes her way from one hill to another to view the wolves at Slough Creek.

The view up the Slough Creek Valley was beautiful, and the weather changed from snow to sun and back again.Note all the wolf watchers on the hill in the midground.

Just to give you an idea of how far away the wolves were, the take down of the bison occured inside the small red circle. The wolves were not visible with the naked eye.

The 11 members of the Junction Butte Pack make their way up the hill to relax with full bellies.

Though they were a mile away, I was excited to get a classic photo of the pack walking in a line.

We decided to stay to watch the wolveswhen everyone else had left. After about an hour, they disappeared into a forest. John spotted two bull elk with his scope, but he couldn't find the wolves. After waiting another hour, we finally left and headed for Hellroaring and the carcass.

At the Hellroaring carcass, three coyote were feasting and I quickly snapped a picture. There wasn't much left of the bison. We are hoping that 1118F fed on it last night, too.

Not much is left of the bison carcass we saw for the first time Monday.

Heading back toward Cooke City, we stopped at Slough Creek one last time to retrieve John's handwarmer (a rechargeable one) and check on the wolves. There, we saw Hjort, whom we met in December, as well as the wolves, most bedded down on the hillside. One black wolf headed down toward the carcass to chase off two foxes, many ravens, and a bald eagle.

Between seeing the wolves take down a bison and watching them howl and interact playfully, it was a full and wonderful day!