July 1, 2024
We got up and out the door in about 15 minutes—record time. It was just starting to get light when we left at 4:45. For the first time since we arrived in June, we had to show our pass in the morning. The morning was cloudy and the pavement was wet from last night's rain.
I dropped John off at the second lot at Slough, where he set up for scoping and pictures with the 600mm lens with the 2x converter. I parked back up on the road and walked up to Dave's Hill. There, I encountered Helena, Rick M. and I believe the Spanish tourist we encountered Saturday at Exclosure. Later, another person who knew Rick joined. It was apparent that Rick and Helena were friends by the personal nature of their conversation. I fear Rick is ill, with his talk about clearing the clutter from his Silver Gate home, making a will, and a mention of assisted living. He also didn't seem to be able to keep track of the wolves as well and had to look through Helena's scope several times. I complimented Helena on her posts on Yellowstone Reports, which she appreciated. She was nice, though not as forthcoming as other watchers we have met. Maybe it was because Rick was there, and it was clear they were friends and colleagues. Rick said he would be donating 13,000 pages of typed notes to the Yellowstone research archives.
At any rate, I saw one gray as soon as I arrived at 6:15. Eventually, I was able to spot 907F, an uncollared gray male, and a black wolf, though I couldn't tell whether or not it had a collar (1479F). I also saw the two pups, though their appearance was brief and mostly camouflaged by the sage. They appeared to nurse briefly with 907F's leg in the air in an involuntary movement we noticed the previous time they nursed.
I kept John informed of what I could see, as my view was better, via walkie talkie. Unbeknownst to me, a crew of people with John were listening to my directions to spot the wolves as well. He shared the scope with several first-time wolf sighters, and chatted with Debbie, whose husband, unit 11, doesn't come out in the park anymore. She indicated our unit number, 229, isn't as high as it sounds since many of the original watchers are no longer alive or coming to the park.
John got some nice footage of 907F getting a drink and the uncollared gray as well as the unidentified black. He was happy with the focus setting on low and the 2x converter.
With the temperature at 54 and only occasional sunbreaks but a constant cold wind, the black clouds and impending rain ushered me to the car and by the time I reached John, fat drops of rain were plopping on the scope and camera. Debbie helped us load his things into the car. We checked out Trout Lake, as we'd heard on the radio that five wolves had been spotted there. No one was there when we arrived, so we turned around at Pebble Creek and headed back. All was quiet on the radio, with people stopping for bison all too often.
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