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10 Oct 2003 - Friday
I left work around noon. The pair of Trumpeter Swans are still in South Twin Lake above Norris. At Mammoth, I stopped at the visitor center and put my longjohns on. Then ran into Frank and Lou taking pictures of a large elk near the chapel. This morning, Yellowstone had one of the first storms of the year, and almost everything got two to four inches of snow. The roads were fine, but it stuck to the ground. Mammoth and about half way up on hellroaring overlook was bare, but higher elevations kept the snow cover, making glassing for wildlife a lot easier. I called Ralph from Elk Creek (he was still up there from last weekend); he was at the Lamar Ranger Station, with four grizzlies in his scope. The sow with three coy's (cubs of the year), was high up on the backside of a-z viewed best from just east of the Institute. They were out for over an hour and then we caught them near dark (7:00 PM) going up and over the skyline. There was a new bison carcass across from Fisherman's turnout, been there for a few days, and pretty much gone; but a large dark grizzly made it's way to the carcass just before dark. Frank and Lou decided to stay, so we were all in Sough Creek. Got down to 25 degrees or so I guess, not bad, the ground was bare after the storm that low, so put up my tent.
11 Oct 2003 - Saturday
Saturday am, at daylight the sow and three coy's were back, on the bench south of the Institute, and for the next hour, they crossed the Ski Slope, then the clearing behind that. Had a total of three other grizzlies on or near the bison carcass. The big dark one had the carcass, another crossed the river then crossed the road between Dorothy's and Coyote, and when the large one left the carcass, a silverback grizzly was bedded in the trees above the carcass (the tree's below the bench). Seventeen Druid wolves, who had been gone for a while, showed up at the Rendezvous area then moved up to the bench across from coyote to bed. They all visited the carcass then rebedded. In the afternoon, found five of Agate Pack near the gap at trashcan #58. Two of the three lone grizzlies returned to the carcass at dusk. The Druids moved west just at dark, but didn't arrive at Slough Creek until after darkness. Saturday night it clouded up.
12 Oct 2003 - Sunday
It was only 40 degrees according to Frank's thermometer this am. The silverback was on the carcass at daylight. The Druids and Slough Creek Packs were in the area. The Geode Pack (11 of them) had a kill in the Slough Creek bottoms, but I had to go higher than Dave's Hill to find them (didn't see them myself). What a great weekend in the park. I hated to leave and head for home...
Spring has arrived in Yellowstone and so has bear and wolf watching in the park. We were able to see our first grizzly of the year on Saturday (20 Apr 2002). He was also out and seen on Sunday. We have reports posted for both days on our 2002 Trip Reports. We hope you enjoy and if you would like to add a report, just send it along. Thanks and take care!
11 May 02 - Saturday
Our family watched a grizzly chasing a buffalo at the West Thumb Geyser Basin on Saturday, May 11th. It was very exciting and occurred very near to where a number of people were standing. The buffalo (sporting a large wound on his back leg) actually hopped over a portion of the boardwalk and into a thermal area to avoid the bear. His tactic worked as the bear stopped, turned around and returned to the woods. My son is pretty sure he got both animals in a camera shot but we are waiting for the film to develop. This was our first trip to Yellowstone and we only had 2 days to spend in the park. We planned out route carefully to get the most out of out trip and the grizzly sighting was a great finale.
We saw almost every animal we had hoped to see during our trip: buffalo, mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep, coyotes, pelicans and a heron. We even managed to find a moose as we drove through Grand Teton National Park. Maybe next time we can see some wolves and black bears. I can't wait to go back again!
Mary Stolzmann - Colorado
See the Apr 99 Trip Report, May 99 Trip Report, and the Jun 99 Trip Report for bear sighting details.
01 Nov 98 - Sunday
On the way out of Lamar Valley, I ran into Frank and Lennis Butler from Shelley, Idaho at about 10:30 am. I was sure they were too late to do a lot of spotting. Frank called me on Tuesday (03 Nov 98). They saw two black wolves of the Rose Creek Pack at the Junction Butte area . They also discovered a grizzly turning rocks and grubbing south of Slough Creek Campground road. A little while later they observed all eight of the Druid Peak Pack on top of a ridge near Specimen Ridge. The grizzly and Druid Peak Pack were out for three hours or so. A great weekend for bear and wolf watching in the park. Can't wait until the west road opens in mid April.
Thanks Bill, a great report and see you in the park next spring. Take care!
29 Aug 98 - Saturday
Saturday morning and night as well as Sunday morning a grizzly was seen on a buffalo kill in Lamar Valley. The kill was straight south of coyote overlook. The grizzly really looked lanky.
The bear follows a well worn trail to and from the carcass. Interestingly 105F paused at the trail when it crossed it about an hour after the grizzly went up it.
I had four grizzly sightings this weekend. Two were the same grizzly visiting the carcass at coyote. On Saturday morning around 8:30 am, a lone grizzly came out of the trees for about 20 minutes. This was just past the wolves nearer the tree line and the confluence of the Lamar and Soda Butte.
30 Aug 98 - Sunday
On Sunday morning around 7:00 am, another grizzly went west to east on the clearing straight across from coyote overlook, about eye level. He was out at the same time the other grizzly was on the carcass. The second grizzly was heading back to the trees and was quite a ways from the grizzly on the carcass. This grizzly appeared smaller, however, when it stood up three times before he went out of sight - he looked pretty big.
See the July 98 Trip Report for 16 - 19 July Bear Sightings
27 / 28 Jun 98 - Saturday / Sunday
I heard about three sub adult grizzlies quite near the road at Swan Flats. Quite a bear jam I guess. Bear watching is still good. The grizzlies are starting to "turn rocks" in the clearings. I watched a sow with two yearlings up at Antelope Creek and another lone bear (about the size of the sow ) in the same clearing Saturday night. The sow with three cubs of the year was visible Saturday and Sunday from the turnout just west of Soda Butte.
A black bear and cub have been entertaining the Slough Creek Campground--killed two different deer fawns - one right in the campground in the last week. The first time I guess the black charged by fisherman after a fawn scaring the hell out of the fisherman.
Bill and Bobby Clark video taped a collared grizzly at Rainy Lake Saturday morning. Close, too close to Tower Creek. I guess the ranger "cracker" shot him three or four times.
Jim Hamilton from Cody put on a real nice slide show for Bill and Bobby at Tower their last night. Lots of grizzlies most from the east gate, but lots of animals close to Tower. Really nice show.
The Beartooth was closed for a few days last weekend. They even closed Dunraven last Friday evening until about 2:00 pm Saturday. Snow in late June. A little cold at night but great bear watching.
See the June 98 Trip Report for additional bear sightings.
16 May 98 - Saturday
Saturday morning, a grizzly with three two year old cubs was north of the road at the west end of Lamar Valley. We first saw them at 5:45 am and by dark they had moved only about a half mile west. She was visible off and on most of the day. At about 6:15 am a large lone grizzly passed above her and moved off to the north and over the ridge.
During the evening, we set up near the Lamar picnic area. There were two different black bears feeding in and out of the trees south of the road. About 6:00 pm, we noticed a lone grizzly high on Norris Mountain (south and east of the picnic area). A few minutes later someone noticed another grizzly above the first grizzly. As she moved on this side of the ridge we discovered that she had two cubs of the year. This sighting was quite a ways away, but she moved on the horizon for about a half mile and was quite visible. She seemed to localize in one area and appeared to nurse the cubs. About 7:10 pm we spotted a large grizzly North of the Lamar picnic area. The urge for pizza made us leave the Lamar around 7:30 pm. There were four different black bears out between Tower Junction and the campground. Rosie appears to have only one black cub this year. We found her near Rainy Lake / Calcite Overlook about 8:00 pm with about ten photographers.
17 May 98 - Sunday
Sunday morning started pretty slow. I glassed most of the Lamar Valley and didn't find anything until I arrived near the Druid Peak Pack den site (the Lamar river footbridge turnout). As I left there, Bill and Bobby Clark called me on the CB and said they had a lone grizzly high on Norris. We set up the scopes and watched the one grizzly, a sow with two yearlings and another lone grizzly appeared across the large high Norris clearings. Moving Back east to Coyote Overlook, we again spotted the sow with the three large cubs still north of the road. I spotted another grizzly very high up and south of the road and then picked up another grizzly on Specimen Ridge.
We guessed the large amount of grizzlies on Sunday morning was due to the weather. It rained most of Saturday night. Also had a lone mountain goat north of the Lamar River footbridge turnout Saturday night. Looks like Memorial weekend will be good for spotting bears.
Wow, what a weekend Bill, it does get too much better than that folks... John. Thanks Bill!
08 May 98 - Friday
We had a GREAT trip to the Park last Friday and Saturday. We got into Lamar Valley around 6:30 pm and pulled over, West of the Institute, where a large group of people were looking South across the valley. When we pulled over, Jo spotted a Grizzly in the tree line. After awhile, the other people started to put their stuff away and a guy came over to ask if we had seen the bear. Jo told him that she was looking at the bear right now. He asked to see it, and it turned out that we were looking at a different bear. So everyone started to set up again. We watched for about 45 minutes and then went further into the valley.
We ended up spending the rest of the evening watching three black wolves and one gray (almost white) wolf (Druid Peak Pack) Southeast of the Lamar picnic area. I got videos of them, but there wasn't much action. They started to stalk a herd of elk, but after the elk ran off, they laid down and stayed in the same area until after dark. The biggest thrill came when I watched (through the spotting scope) one of the black wolves lift its head and howl! What a treat! That's the first time we were certain that we had heard a wolf! That alone made the trip worthwhile!
I only regret that I didn't get a video of it. We then watched a herd of buffalo with the night binocs and the calves just had a ball! They sprinted and kicked up their heels all around the herd.
09 May 98 - Saturday
Saturday morning, we walked out of our cabin and heard some honking. We looked up and saw a pair of trumpeter swans flying a few hundred feet above Mammoth. Boy, do they have a large wing span! That's the first time we've seen them in flight.
We began driving back to Lamar Valley around 10:30 am (early!!) On our way, just before the Blacktail Trail turn-off, we watched a Golden Eagle gain altitude in a thermal updraft. We ran into Bill Hamblin in Lamar Valley. He said that he had seen the Druid Peak Pack that morning. We spent most of the rest of the day looking for bears and watching the buffalo and elk. I got about 30 minutes video of the bison calves running and playing all over the place. In fact, I taped two that kept butting their heads together and an adult had to keep breaking them up. The calves were really feisty! Around 6:30 pm, we stopped about a mile West of Slough Creek and watched a Grizzly Sow and her two cubs grazing on Specimen Ridge. They were rather large cubs, so they must have been born last year. Getting late, we headed back to Idaho Falls. About eight miles South of Mammoth, we saw a moose.
By this time the rains had started. We were really lucky weather-wise. It was perfectly clear out Friday evening with very light wind and Saturday was partly cloudy. We never got a drop of rain while in Lamar Valley!
25 Apr 98 - Saturday
On Saturday morning I spotted a lone grizzly feeding along the Slough Creek. He was still there forty five minutes later when I froze out and headed for the car. At dusk a lone grizzly was observed from the Hellroaring overlook -- way, way back.
26 Apr 98 - Sunday
Our black bear was in the rocks again (three weekends in a row) across the river from the Junction Butte pullout. I walked up to the Tower Store and found a lone black bear feeding down the slope and close to where the osprey nest is located. We watched for about an hour hoping it was Rosie (the resident black bear who should have cubs this year). Nothing, maybe she was out and kept the cubs in the den, or maybe it wasn't even her. I talked to a guy from Prey, Montana, who on Tuesday saw two of Rosie's last cubs -- the cinnamon and a black at Rainy Lake (just below Tower).
We made an extended weekend trip to the park and saw one black bear and one grizzly or great bear. For a full report on our April 16 - 19 report see April Trip Report.
16 Oct 97 - I got into the park on Thursday about 2:00 p.m. The road from Madison to Old Faithful is closed for the year. The road from Canyon to Tower is also closed (I guess for the Year). All the roads but the North Entrance will close on 02 Nov 97. Thursday evening I saw three different grizzlies in Lamar Valley. Two from the Buffalo Ranch / Ranger Station and one from Coyote overlook. All were very high up on the ridges to the south. I ran Into Rick McIntrye who had all ten of the Druid Peak Pack just west of the Lamar Picnic area in the high sagebrush (note 39F was not with them - apparently 40F the alpha female and 42F are driving her out).
17 Oct 97 - Friday morning the wolves (Druid Peak Pack) had made a kill during the night one half mile east of the Soda Butte Cone. We saw at least seven of the wolves ( Rick said three pups and 39F were missing). The wolves moved into the tree line above Soda Butte and we never saw them again. Friends checked the kill later and it was an elk calf.
I saw four grizzlies on Friday - all in Lamar Valley. Two individuals south of the Buffalo Ranch / Ranger Station and two sub adults together on Norris Peak high above Soda Butte.
18 Oct 97 - On Saturday, the wolves (Druid Peak Pack) were in the sagebrush just east of the Lamar picnic area at first light. After about one half hour of watching them, about four different wolves bedded down we noticed that 39F was no more than 300 yards above and behind us. We moved and about fifteen minutes later, she moved southeast and out of site. The wolves remained bedded down in the sagebrush. At night we saw that there was at least seven wolves there.
About 6:00 pm, I moved down to Coyote overlook and found a lone grizzly high southwest of the Buffalo Ranch / Ranger Station.
19 Oct 97 - Sunday morning the Druid Peak Pack was south and east of the Buffalo Ranch / Ranger Station best viewed from the rise between the Ranger Station and the Lamar picnic area.
We saw at least seven of the wolves laying on the first bench above the river. We assumed they had a kill close by. A friend spotted at least one pup in the sagebrush east of the Lamar picnic area. The elk were down on the valley floor about a week ago, the snow had pushed them down, but now have moved back up. It appears that the grizzlies have been finding the wolves kills as several people were seeing them on the same kills. The kill Friday morning east of Soda Butte had a bear on it by Saturday.
Great report Bill! Sure wish I would of been there with you! Thanks tons! - John
We left the Lake Yellowstone Hotel and headed for Hayden Valley in search of grizzlies right around dusk, maybe 6:00 pm or so. To our delight, we drove about half a mile up the road and found a large group of people, two rangers and a grizzly, all off the left side of the road, near the ranger residences. The grizzly was in a large field digging for grubs, and we watched for 20 minutes or so until he/she headed into the woods. The next night the grizzly was in the same place at the same time, and we got video footage for the folks back home. Someone at Fishing Bridge said the grizzly had been in that spot at dusk for the past 4 days.
I saw two grizzlies, both on the west side of the road at Alum Creek in Hayden Valley. The sightings were about an hour apart and one half mile apart on Friday morning. The second sighting was for over forty minutes as it grazed in a clear meadow surrounded by sagebrush. I ran into Mark from Minnesota (authorized vehicle) who had a grizzly high on Norris Peak above the footbridge turnout in Lamar. This grizzly was out for an hour or so in late morning. I glassed there several times over the weekend but saw nothing. Apparently little other action for predators.
The area west of the highway at Alum Creek seems to be good this time of year. I noticed from my notes of last year, that several grizzlies (I only saw two different griz) in the same area last year. They were working on a bison carcass near the highline.
A grizzly bear was reported to have been seen almost every day in the Fishing Bridge area. There had been several griz sightings in Hayden Valley just south of the Canyon area. A griz was seen early Friday morning (25 Jul 97) at the turnout just east of the outfitter turnout near Soda Butte (the same one we were watching the Druid Peak Pack from). Most of the sightings were in the early morning.
26 Jul 97 - Saturday
As we approached Roosevelt we noticed some vehicles pulled over on the side of the road and people looking and pointing to the east hillsides. We stopped and setup our spotting scopes on a large black bear that was traversing the hillside. We had about 300 or so people stop by and look at the bear as he or she covered the vast hillside looking for something to eat. It was fun to watch friends from Germany, France, Japan, Maine, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, young, middle age and older seeing their first bear in Yellowstone and to share in the experience. We stayed for about three hours letting anyone who wanted view the bear.
Some of the friends who stopped to view the bear reported a young cub a few miles just west of Roosevelt. Jacob wanted to see the cub, so we headed towards Mammoth. Just a little ways west of Floating Island Lake, we came upon a small crowd of wildlife watchers. We arrived just in time to watch the cub walk up a small hill and into the forest. It looked like a one year old cub. We again turned around and headed back towards Lamar.
We turned east at the Roosevelt/Tower Junction and headed towards Soda Butte. We had not gone more than a half mile when another black bear was about 20 yards off the road thrilling tons of Yellowstone visitors and photographers (yours truly included). We watched and took pictures for about 20 minutes or so and as the bear sat calmly on the hillside and ate berries, we left him and his watchers to continue our adventure.
We stopped at the third turnout in Lamar with a group of watchers to see if any wolves or bears had been spotted. Nothing going on for the past little while. One of the watchers spotted something moving up in a high meadow near the top of Specimen Ridge. We all trained our spotting scopes on the area hoping for some wolf activity only to be treated to another black bear romping in the meadow.
We returned on Monday from our quick trip to Yellowstone. We left from Portland, OR on Thursday 6/11 and returned on Monday 6/16. A quick trip but well worth it.
We saw 13 bears - 8 grizzlies and 5 black bears. One of the black bears was a cinnamon colored cub which had recently been given the boot by his mother (according to a wildlife photographer who says he has been seeing this cub for several months). It reminded me of the 60's when we were in the Park as kids. He stayed very close to the road and kept crossing from side to side. Stopping to dig a little here and there. The kids were fascinated. We watched him for about 30 minutes until he finally wandered out of sight into the trees.
We spotted most of the grizzlies on the north facing slopes in the Lamar Valley. We saw Gimpy, the sow with three cubs. The cubs were playing hard in a clearing and we watched them for about an hour one evening. Mom was resting on the edge of the clearing.
I was amazed at how thin some of the bison were. One in particular was along the Lamar Valley road each evening and he was incredibly thin. His backbone stuck up a good 8-10 inches before there was any meat on him. Obviously a very difficult winter for many of the animals.
A great trip overall. Thanks again for the trip reports. Interesting that there was very little going on at Slough Creek while we were there. The only wildlife was mosquitoes. Met some nice people. Heard some great stories about the Rose Creek Pack fighting the Druid Peak Pack last year at Slough Creek. You never know what you are going to see next.
Thanks again. This will be my only trip this year. Saw a lot more but don't want to bore you. Keep up the good work!
Just a quick report on last week's trip. I got up to the Park Tuesday (10th) morning and set up my usual camp at Tower. I gave Bill and Bobbie copies of your trip reports from this year, since they hadn't seen them before.
It rained most of the time I was there, but there were breaks that made for some great bear watching. Tuesday evening we saw a sow Grizzly with two new cubs at Slough Creek, but rain and limited daylight kind of ended our viewing for the day.
Wednesday morning we saw a Black bear just before the Specimen Ridge trailhead on our way up to Lamar Valley. It was only out in the open for a short time.
We stopped at Slough Creek just as the sow with the new cubs was heading out of the ponds down in the bottom just off the road there. She was apparently enjoying a little swim when people started showing up, and she wanted nothing to do with spectators. She quickly headed towards the creek and swam across with one cub on her back, and the other close behind. She then shook off and relaxed a little bit, but steadily made her way up the hillside.
We headed up to Lamar where we found Bill and Bobbie, Bill Hamblin, Rick and others watching Gimpy and her cubs looking for breakfast just across the river from the Lamar Picnic area. Shortly after we got her in the scope, she found an elk calf and breakfast was served. They fed for about a half hour then slowly headed up towards the trees for the day. While we were sitting there, I spotted a lone Grizzly on the ridge behind us that Bill had seen earlier. He was only out for a short time in both cases.
We then headed for Canyon to see the sights. A little rainy, but still nice. Just south of Hayden Valley there is a picnic area. As we were nearing it I noticed quite a few cars there and several Bison in an opening just off the road. We thought it was just a lot of people watching the Bison. But on closer inspection found a young Grizzly wandering around in the middle of them. Neither the Bison or the bear seem to pay any attention to each other or the crowd of people there. He just roamed around the opening for awhile about 50 or so yards away, giving everyone time to take some good pictures, then started back towards the picnic area. I thought, as well as several others, that a quick drive back into the picnic area was in order for some even better pictures as he was headed right towards there. But, just as he was passing through a small grove of trees on his way, he decided to lay down under one of them and settle in for a nap. I don't know how long he napped for or if anyone stuck around long enough to find out, but he sure would have surprised some picnickers if they didn't know he was laying there.
There was a sow Grizzly with two cubs at Obsidian Cliffs that had drawn quite a crowd, but she had gone out of sight for awhile and we didn't stick around to see her.
Thursday morning we were back in Lamar Valley and Gimpy came out to look for breakfast once again. She and the gang were successful once again. It took her a little while in the area before she finally zeroed in on the calf or calves (there were two cows together there) that she had passed right by a couple of times. They were on the shelf just above Amythyst Creek. They put on a great show as they munched and played and chased away the cows. A couple of Bald Eagles sat on rocks nearby waiting for the leftovers. It was a beautiful morning besides. (No rain!)
After picking up camp at Tower we headed for home via Dunraven Pass. Just before the Pass, there was a cinnamon Black Bear just below the road in a small opening.
All in all a great trip in spite of the rain. Keep in touch and keep me posted. I may not be back up until September.
09 Jun 97 - Monday - by John W. Uhler
1. Black bears were seen almost every day from Rainy Lake to Tower Falls.
2. We also saw black bears just east of the Yellowstone picnic grounds (highway 212).
3. We saw grizzly bears from the third turnout east of the Specimen Ridge Trail sign (on highway 212). We also saw grizzly bears from the hillside at the Slough Creek campground road turnout and from the third turnout past the Lamar Valley sign down to the turnout just past the Lamar picnic grounds (highway 212). Grizzly bears and black bears have been seen on both sides of the valley.
4. A grizzly bear was reported to have been seen for quite some time around the road at Fishing Bridge.
5. We saw three grizzly bears just across the road from North Twin Lake.
See the Jun 97 Trip Report for more details.
10 May 97 - Saturday - Around 8:00 PM by John W. Uhler
We arrived about 8:00 pm at the turnout about one mile east of the Lamar River bridge, where we had watched the wolves earlier. The wolves had been in and out of view for a while before we arrived. A griz had also shown up for a little while and then disappeared behind a hillside. The female and two pups came out and we watched them play and interact. They went back in and most of the crowd began to leave. There were a few of us that stayed on and just chatted about wildlife, Yellowstone and life. We had a great time. As we were visiting, the griz reappeared walking down the hillside towards us, he was quite a ways off, but we could see him without the binocs or spotting scopes. He walked down to an elk kill and began to feed. We watched in awe as he was a beautiful bear. He sat, and laid down and just moved around the kill eating, while we and the ravens watched on.
When he had finished feeding, he slowly walked down the hillside parallel to us and disappeared in a gully. We were thrilled and captivated. We again began to visit as the sun was setting and dark was surrounding us, and discussing our good fortune of the day when to our utter surprise and joy the wolves howled.... what a thrill, talk about something that just made your hair stand on end and goose bumps. They then barked and then one more deep group howl and it was over... I thought I had died and gone to heaven. This was another first and one of my fondest desires, to hear the wolves howl. What a day! I will never forget this day and the experiences we had and shared with some great great friends!
11 May 97 - Sunday
We were up at 6:00 am and off to Lamar. We went directly to the turnout by the Rose Creek den and had just missed the griz as he had come back and fed at the kill. The alpha female was again lying near some rocks below the tree line. We watched her and the pups play, we counted six pups. We shared our spotting scope with anyone who was there and wanted to get a good view of the wolf and pups. It was cool. We met some more friends and just had a blast visiting together. Two couples from Idaho Falls who had watch the wolves and bear the evening before pulled up and told us the rest of the story of their experience last night. On Saturday evening, they left just after the bear disappeared.
As they were driving back towards Roosevelt, and just about .5 mile from where we were, the griz that we had just watched was sitting of the north side of the road. They stopped and grabbed their video camera and have some great film of the griz. He walked across the road, sat down again for a spell and then slowly walked around two spring pools and out of sight. Man were they fired up! I couldn't believe their good luck. We watched their video and felt the excitement of their experience. The two couples and myself went down to where the griz had crossed the road and found his tracks in some mud near one of the pools. We took pictures of the prints and had a fun visit together. To say they were a little pumped about their opportunity to see a griz that close would be an understatement!
A black bear sow known as Rosie and her three cubs were seen in the Tower area. Grizzly sightings were also reported in the LeHardy Rapids area on the Yellowstone River, just south of the Mud Volcano area in Hayden Valley.
03 May 97 - Saturday - Between 4:30 - 5:30 PM
There was a reported sighting of seven, yes seven, grizzlies in Lamar Valley in the northeast corner of Yellowstone. They reported one sow with 2 cubs, and another sow with 3 cubs, passed along the hillside directly across the road from the Lamar picnic area (north side of valley). These two sows and cubs were not together, they just happened to be on the same general mountainside at about the same time to the thrill of bear watchers. Griz sightings were also reported in the Mammoth area, 1 sow - 2 cubs, and one griz in Hayden Valley. I have no other details on these two sightings.
01 May 97 - Thursday - PM - by Gail Lee
Hi John - Welcome to spring. Just had my first griz encounter of 1997 - drove up the North Fork canyon to the East Gate of the Park (which opens Friday). Near Three Mile Campground there was a cow moose standing in the middle of the road. I stopped and was just sitting there admiring her when I felt a thud, and there at the back of the car was a male griz. I don't know if he deliberately bumped the car, or just was not looking where he was going and ran into me, but I moved off to the side of the road to get around the moose and the griz wandered on across the road and down to the river. It was about 8:00 pm and drizzling. We have had four grizzly encounters over here in Cody so far this year, all early horn hunters and only minor injuries. So glad the Park is opening this weekend - anxious to get back in. It is a blessing just to live here and be able to get over there a couple of times a week. Gotta go - have a good one, John. Gail Lee
This sighting took place in Lamar Valley in the northeast corner of Yellowstone. Again the wolf project people had faint signals in the same area as last night (Soda Butte). No wolves were spotted. On my way back west, we spotted two grizzly bears almost opposite the Lamar Ranger Station halfway up the hill and climbing. They looked about 2 or 3 years old. There were also some faint signals just south of the Slough Creek turnout. Again no wolves spotted.
19 Apr 97 - Saturday - PM - by John W. Uhler
We went back to the motel at Gardiner, MT and the kids went to the pool and we rested and then ate supper and got ready to head back to Lamar. We saw a pond full of Trumpeter Swans east of the Yellowstone Picnic grounds. Then we continued down the road towards Lamar. We saw a vehicle pulled over so we stopped to find out what was up. We met a couple from Idaho Falls, Ray had emailed me about a month earlier. Ray and his wife Jo had seen a griz on a south hillside that had apparently gotten to close to a coyote den and two coyotes were escorting it out of their area. This was about a half mile west of the Lamar River bridge on the south side of the road. The griz was upset and tried its best to swat the coyotes but they were too fast for it. We had just missed the action by about five minutes.... timing is everything when it comes to grizzin and wolfin (with a whole bunch of luck).
I will add more sighting reports as I get them or from our Trip Reports
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Comments or Suggestions are Welcome. Send To: John@Yellowstone-Natl-Park.Com. Thank You!
