We’d come to Yellowstone to see its wildlife so were eager to visit the Lamar Valley, the area we’d most likely find elk, bison, bighorn sheep and wolves. Before leaving Gardiner mid afternoon, we drove along the outskirts of town and immediately spotted a female bighorn sheep bounding up a hillside. Resembling goats more than domestic sheep, bighorns don’t have wool but buckskin-like coats. They are agile and easily able to bound over rocky, rough ground at high elevations to elude predators. Females, called ewes, weigh about 200 pounds and have longer straighter horns than males. This ewe was moving quickly and fortunately I was camera ready to snap a photo.
Heading back through Gardiner toward’s Yellowstone’s north gate, we saw two female elk sunbathing in the front yard of the local school. According to Julie, the school yard is a popular place for mother and baby elks to congregrate once kids are in the building – sunny and safe from predators, they can lounge undisturbed until dismissal.
We headed south to Mammoth Springs to catch the road east, past Tower Roosevelt and on to the Lamar Valley. Our plan was to watch for wildlife as we gradually made our way to Silver Gate at the northeast edge of the park where we would spend the night. This would position us near the Lamar Valley tomorrow for early morning wildlife viewing, hopefully to see wolves and moose on the move at dawn . We passed several large herds of bison grazing in the valley, their beards frosty with snow. As daylight wanes, buffalo descend from higher ground into the valley for protection and warmth. Yellowstone’s bison population is estimated to be a healthy 4000-5500 animals with most of these animals living in northern area of park.
Sunset comes early this far north. By 6pm, the sky was tinged pink with the last vestiges of the setting sun, the moon had risen and darkness was falling. It was cold and clear with temperatures already below 0 deg F. The low tonight was expected to be near 30 below, a dry, bitter, frostbite type of cold.
Our destination was Silver Gate, Montana, population 20, a small settlement a few miles outside the northwest park gate. We spotted a red fox along the shoulder of the road, on the move, likely hunting for supper. Typically, solo hunters at dusk and dawn, these small canids feast on rodents, birds, lizards and amphibians.
By the time we reached Silver Gate it was dark and extremely cold. The thermometer in the SUV read minus fifteen Fahrenheit. We pulled into a plowed drive between high mounds of piled snow, with a dimly lit sign that read Grizzly Lodge – this was to be our home for the next two nights. Julie pulled alongside a lit room, keys dangling from the door lock and we quickly moved our gear inside our spacious two room, two bathroom ‘suite’. Julie handed us our boxed dinner and breakfast and bid us goodnight. The room was bright and cheery with its grizzly motifed bedspread; we cranked the heat up and picniced on sandwiches, fruit and cookies and toasted our first day in Yellowstone with the Budweiser and prosecco we’d stashed in our backpacks! Fortunately, the room warmed quickly and by the time we’d finished eating and packed our leftovers in the refrigerator, we could comfortably remove a few layers of clothing. Time for bed – our wakeup call was 4:45am – predawn to give us ample time to drive to Lamar Valley for wolf watching.
Dressing the next morning, we donned every layer of clothing we’d brought. Fortified by our bagged breakfast of bananas, yogurt and bagels, we met Julie by the SUV and were delighted to find that even in minus 30 degree weather, the engine cranked and started. We drove about 45 mins into Yellowstone’s famed Lamar Valley and pulled into a turnoff where a DNR van was parked. Two park rangers were monitoring the movements of the Lamar wolf pack and after a brief conversation with them, Julie parked and set up a high powered scope; there were wolves in the valley below and at daybreak we’d likely see them from this location. Waiting, we watched the sky lighten and rouge as daaybreak neared, looking forward to the warmth of the sun. Surprisingly, standing in the minus 30 degree cold was not as bad as expected – it was a dry cold with no trace of wind so some stomping and hand rubbing was sufficient to keep the blood moving.
Sure enough, once day broke, we could discern the shapes of animals below, their dark forms easily identifiable against the snowy white backdrop. Per Julie, this was the Junction Butte wolf pack. The wolves had been resting and began rousing themselves with the daylight. They stretched, stood up, urinated, greeted each other and then as a pack, began to move. This was all visible with the naked eye but using the high powered scope we were able to discern detail – the thick, bristly texture of the wolves’ coats, their dog like faces and wagging tails. There were nineteen wolves and as the leaders began moving across the valley, the rest of the pack followed, strung out over several hundred feet, eventually crossing the highway and ascending the adjacent hillside. We followed them, driving slowly along the road as they traversed the adjacent ridge until they crested the hill and were gone. Amazing to see these animals back in Yellowstone! Wolves were successfully reintroduced to the park in 1995 and continued to increase in numbers. In 2015, there were over 500 wolves in Yellowstone, but numbers today are nearer to 120 due to decline of elk population, disease and hunting (although as of 2022, wolves are once again on endangered species list).
Still on the lookout for wolves, we spotted a lone canine walking alongside a small stream in the valley. Too small to be a wolf, we recognized a coyote. Although supposedly abundant in Yellowstone, this was the one and only coyote we were fortunate enough to see. With the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone, coyotes now have natural predators although they are ttypically he food source of last resort for wolves.
We continued driving through Lamar Valley and then headed south towards Hayden Valley. Later that morning, we caught a glimpse of black shapes moving against the snow covered hillside. Grabbing binoculars, we saw another wolf pack on the move far off in the distance. Listening carefully, we could hear the beasts yipping and barking, comunicating with each other as they crossed the rocky valley. Thankful now for snow, we realized that without it, we would have never sighted or been able to observe this wolf pack.
For the next day and a half, Julie drove us to the northern areas of the park where we would most likely see wildlife. We saw multiple large herds of bison, sometimes near thermal areas warming themselves, at other times traversing the valleys near frozen ponds of water.
Although delighted to have seen wolves, bison, elk, bighorn sheep, a coyote and fox, I still really wanted to see a moose. So, early one morning, Julie drove us to a marshy woods not far from Grizzly Lodge, an ideal grazing ground for moose. We drove slowly along the edge of the trees, peering through tangles of dense branches, looking for movement. Suddenly, Julie spied two dark shapes against the backdrop of snow; in the dim light, we could just barely make out the forms of a female moose and her adolescent offspring. Well adapted to the cold and snow, mother and son were foraging on the grasses poking out through the snow, unfazed by the minus 25 deg F temperatures; thankful that we could observe from the warmth of the car, we watched them placidly graze from one grass patch to another. Eventually dawn broke and I had sufficient light for a picture just as the young bull took a break from eating, raised his head and posed. Moose are typically loners so we were excited to see mom and her offspring!
As the food favorite of wolves, elk are plentiful in Yellowstone so we’d expected to see large herds, but that was not the case. Instead, we saw a few females with their youngsters or the occassional lone bull. On a sunny hillside near Mammoth Springs, we watched a large bull elk sunbathing, watching us as we watched him. Despite the early snow, this bull had yet to shed his antlers for the winter.
Likewise, we did not see herds of pronghorn either, just an occasional animal resting solo in the sun. We appreciated why the elk and pronghorn took daytime respites; between keeping warm and avoiding predators, these animals were likely on the run all night and ready to laze in the sun.
Our final day in the the park, we headed south towards Grand Tetons, parallelling Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone Lake is not only the largest body of water in the park with over 110 miles of shoreline but also the largest freshwater lake above an altitude of 7000 ft. The sunshine set the lake sparkling and we spotted a lone swan gliding across its calm surface, creating a shimmering wake; our final sighting of Yellowstone fauna and a beautiful conclusion to an amazing wildlife tour.
