June 13, 2014

After writing yesterday's blog, I left for Cooke City to post it. I was told they had free internet at the visitor's center and wanted to try it. It was the best connection I've had in the Yellowstone area. I'll use it for the rest of this trip.

On the way, there was a black bear grazing in a meadow of flowers near Pebble Creek campground. As I drove by, I took several photos out the window, but then parked at the campground and walked back with the big lens.

About an hour and 250 photos later, I left.

Before leaving, a group of girls about 8 years old came along. They were in a class with the Yellowstone Association – an organization that does nature tours and classes. I let them look through the camera at the bear and then let them take pictures with their point and shoot cameras through mine.

Later in the evening I heard about a bison carcass in view of the road near the west end of the Lamar valley, so that was to the the goal this morning.

I left around 6:15 and got there in about 15 minutes. The turnout was filled and I had to park on the side of the road. There was a coyote feeding on it, but that's all. I waited around for a while and then decided to come back later. Something would find it. I'll go over to the hayden valley and see if anything is happening there.

On the way back past Calcite Springs, I encountered a bear jam. There's a black bear with 3 cubs in the area and they were out:

An hour later, I moved on. I got down to the Hayden Valley and after a duck jam (a traffic jam caused by ducks on the river), stopped at Gizzly Overlook. Nothing was happening for a while, but then, after about 20 minutes, a white dog-looking animal came into the valley. At first I wasn't sure if it was the alpha female of the Canyon wolf pack or the white coyote that lives in the area. After a bit of study, I was convinced it was the wolf. It was way too far away for pictures.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on errands, a shower, dinner and chores. I went back to the Lamar valley to check on the bison carcass, but it was all alone. A black bear had fed on it earlier in the day, but no wolves or grizzlies. I'll go back in the morning.