September 2, 2014

I got up early and left to see if any wolves could be found. Lots were.

On the drive out, just a mile or so from the campground, I saw one jogging along the road. I tried to take a picture, but the camera settings were all wrong and I didn't get any pictures before it ran off into the woods.

At Slough Creek, the usual people were up on Dave's Hill, so I climbed up with my scope. It was cold, but clear. My truck thermometer said 35 when I left camp and there was a bit of wind at Slough Creek.

We saw lots of wolves. At one time, all 11 members of the Junction Butte pack were in view. The pups were a cloud of energy while the others took turns trying to keep up. At one time they had a tug-o-war with a piece of tarp that had blown into their area. Finally, after a couple of hours, everybody settled down and disappeared over a hill. It was a good morning.

Then, I drove into Cooke City to do some email and other internet stuff. Along the way, I stopped and checked out the bison carcass near the confluence of Soda Butte Creek and the Lamar River. It had been turned over, but nothing was feeding on it. This is strange. There should be all kinds of animals competing to get at it. I didn't even see any ravens.

One of the internet things I wanted to do was use Google Earth to measure the distances we've been seeing the wolves from. It works out to around 1.5 miles.

After lunch and a short, unintentional nap, I went fishing on Lava Creek. I caught 8 small brookies. One even jumped out of the water to get my fly that was about 3 inches above the surface. I caught him and let him go.

Tomorrow will be more wolves, I hope. The weather is supposed to be nice the rest of the week. I'm going to sign up for the campsite for 6 more nights. Right now, I'm planning to leave on the 9^th and get home on the 10^th. If the weather changes, I might leave earlier.