Yellowstone May 31st, 2015, Looking for Bears

It rained most of the night and so we didn’t get off to an early start. Finally we left camp about nine am and headed for Dunraven Pass and the Lamar Valley. Pulling over often, we scanned the mountainsides with binoculars looking for any signs of life but to no avail.

Crossing the pass we headed down towards Tower Falls. The open mountain meadows were alive with elk and bison. The view was so incredible that we talked off simply sitting there and hoping a bear or wolf would appear but instead we continued on.

At one of the turnoffs a group of overseas visitors, German or Austrian perhaps, showed us the image they had just taken when a wolf appeared behind them and seemed to pose as if to say hello. Lots of the viewing here depends on being lucky and the wolf had already disappeared.

As we neared Tower Falls a bear jam was in progress and there was no place to park our rig. A ranger was directing traffic and waved us past but Renita was able to snap two great images of the bear! It was the backside, but it was close and she took the images with our small camera.

Reaching Tower Junction we turned toward the Lamar Valley, which is perhaps the best place to view wildlife. We had to slow down to cross the bridge, as it has separated from the east side of the cliff and the gap has been spanned with a metal plate. The bridge looks like it could collapse any second.

A few miles further and another bear jam. At least here we were able to find a parking spot and hike back for some great images of another black bear, this one a sow with two new cubs. The bear family put on a great show and it was really cute to see the cubs peering over logs as they tried to figure out all the tourists.

The biggest danger in a bear jam is watching the people driving by and avoiding getting run over. Our next stop was at Slough Creek, where in 2008, we had watched a wolf pack den and had actually spotted a wolf. While the den site had been used last year it appeared abandoned but we still had a wildlife moment as a yellow headed blackbird posed for the camera.

Reaching the Lamar Valley we passed herds of buffalo, elk, and antelope, all grazing quietly as if they were no bears or wolves anywhere in the vicinity. The bison calves were snoozing as their moms grazed in a circle around them. Renita spotted a pair of bison twins asleep with one having a leg over the other.

We drove and stopped and drove and stopped, scanning the fields and mountains.  After parking at the Pebble Creek trailhead, we looked for mountain goats on the cliffs perched high above the valley floor. Another wildlife admirer told us he hadn’t seen the goats all day and we didn’t either, did I say that there is a bit of luck involved?

We still glassed the area but we finally gave up and headed up the valley and back to our camp at Canyon Village. The day had been good as we saw four black bears and lots and lots of buffalo, (the herd here has grown from fifty animals to about three thousand,). As we crawled into our sleeping bags we still hadn’t decided where to go on the next day’s wildlife hunt. Should we go to Mammoth and then drive the loop or should we return to the Lamar Valley? Clear skies