Back to Yellowstone!

June 26, 2024: Morning

We got an early start of 3:54 am from Gardiner and made our first meandering trip up the new road into the park. Was it the dark, or was the road that windy? Was it the lay of the land or was it intentional to slow people down? Either way, we encountered no one else on the road.

In just under an hour, we arrived at Slough before the sun was up. There was no one parked near the restroom so we continued down the road and joined the scattering of vehicles parked in front of the river.

When it was light enough to see, about 5:15, we got our scopes out and John almost immediately spotted an adult black just to the right of the trees by the sage den. He settled back down and disappeared. Half an hour later two black wolves repositioned and disappeared into the sage.

At 7:00, we saw the gray pup move left, then right, and lay down again, only to disappear just like his packmate. At that time, 907 put her head up to check on her offspring, making the flat white rock she appeared to be come to life.

At 8:00, they all got up for a stretch—the black and gray pups wandered over to wrestle with 907, and one of the ​black adults got up to join them, showing a collar. The spectacle ended with 907 going down to the flat area below for a long drink. She seemed to show her age with a little stiffness. Which of us doesn't after such a nap? She headed back up the hill aiming to the left of the sage den and bedded down, disappearing once again in the sage.

At 9:45, a dark gray, collared adult got up and cleaned itself in the sunshine, revealing a sixth wolf. A black adult popped its head up from time to time at the left of the right-most tree. When both bedded down again at 10:00, we headed back to Gardiner for a nap of our own.

Despite the gray clouds and thunderstorms in Gardiner, we drove into the park at 5:00pm. There was a brief slowdown at the curves before Nature Trail for a grizzly to the south, visible to the naked eye. We arrived at Slough at 6:15pm and chose the middle of the lower parking areas. A family had just witnessed a coyote chasing a pronghorn fawn. The herd chased the coyote to the west and went back to check on their young one.

I found 907 immediately in the same location as before—in the right group of trees near the sage den. There was also the head of a black wolf moving about directly in front of the tree.

At 6:25pm, a collared black appeared at the far right tree and another collared black moved left to bed in the sage. To the right of the tree there was also movement, perhaps the black pup. Shortly after, another black collared wolf came from above left of the trees and walked right by 907, to which she paid no attention. She was grooming herself as the black wolf went up the hill to the left.

At 8:17, the black puppy emerged, playing with the black/dark gray collared adult that we guessed to be the alpha male. He moved to the left toward 907 and both pups followed, playing and romping with the adult. In this moment, we counted six of the seven Junction Buttes.

The final treat of the night was the alpha male leading 907 and the pups to the diagonal forest at 8:25 pm, where they disappeared for the night.