The forecast was for snow, but we had made our Yellowstone
National Park reservations in January so we loaded our slide in camper and headed
north. Sure enough, it snowed hard but most of it melted and as we neared
Canyon Campground it finally stopped.
The campsite had been shoveled out by employees and we just
fit! Still we were surrounded by up to three feet of snow and it was a freezing
night. The next morning, we awoke to sunny blue skies, and after a cup of
coffee and reheated egg sandwiches headed for the Lamar valley.
Our first bear jam
occurred just after Tower Canyon where a sow black bear and her two cubs had
taken residence. Staying close to the road it was obvious that the mother bear
had learned how to protect her cubs. The females will stay close to the roads
as the people frighten off the larger male bears. They will kill the cubs, if
given the chance, so that they will have the opportunity to breed.
Winding through the traffic we quickly reached Tower
Junction. Passing a coyote, we saw six during our four days, we headed toward
Slough Creek in hopes of seeing the Slough Creek Wolf Pack. They have a den
that is located about a mile away and we had brought our Celestron telescope in
hopes of seeing the pack and their pups.
We had just missed them, but at least they were still in the
den. Several helpful wolf watchers showed us the location of the two dens and
told us the wolves had moved the pups to the upper den. When large bull bison had moved to near the lower den and the wolves decided that the simplest answer
was to move the pups farther away.
Others told us that the wolves were resting on the other
side of a small hill and so we never did see the wolves on our first day. We
did see bison, bald eagles, and a curious coyote who had little fear of the wolf
watchers.
In fact, one of the persons brought their small dog out. The
dog let out a yip and the coyote turned its head to the small pet. Several
people told the dog owner to put the dog away as the coyote would take it if it
had a chance.
On the way back to our campsite, the bears were still
putting on a show. The bear jam had grown quite large and we sat in a line of
traffic for about a half an hour before we saw them. The rest of the trip was
uneventful, if you ignore the ever-present elk, hot springs, and beautiful
scenery. Clear skies
Nice pic, but snow really.
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