Wild Memories Photography Tours

Yesterday morning freezing temperatures had once again descended upon Yellowstone and roads that were dry the day before were snow covered and icy.

A late start and slow drive, all of the way out to Soda Butte Valley where I imagined great action was taking place because the radios and traffic were so silent.  The family was sleeping on a dark knoll, not yet touched by sunlight.

Not exciting at all and no parking whatsoever.  And then Rick decided to leave and I was able to get into his parking spot. I carried my gear to the front of Soda Butte Cone, anticipating howling when they awoke.

No howling, just silently moving off.

They got up just as the sun began to peek around and the steam from Soda Butte obscured them.  I did a little video of their morning gathering.

And then off they went.  I was able to anticipate their movements, based on past experience with them, and based on the fact that I was sure there was a bull elk in the area.  This helped us to keep up with their movements as they went in and out of view.

And, then we lost them but I knew that they had to appear and guess that they were hiding in some low fog.

Suddenly I saw the bull elk as it ran up a steep hill, soon to be followed by the alphas, 925 and 926.  The chase was on!  We waited to see where they went and before long, Big Black and Little Gray followed their parents first.  Then came the black pups.

I moved back to our original location and was able to see the pups running down to greet the parents.  No kill, just happy greetings, as if gone for a very long time.

And then they laid down behind those trees for their next nap.  We would see movement once in awhile and after about 30 minutes we had the most wonderful howling session.  I recorded them as it was the first time that everyone was quiet and not too many cars went by.  Will look at it later.

And then back to sleep, so I left.

During my absence from Soda Butte Valley, I saw 5 Junction Buttes sleeping with full bellies, just above the Lamar River.  Rick said later that he thought there were as many as 7 or 8.  The last full count of 10 was a week ago today.  Last Wednesday, when we saw them on Secret Passage, there were nine.

And then I saw about 5 or 6 sleeping Prospect Peaks, not far from where they had a carcass very close to the road.  Some photographers were standing close to the kill, hoping to see wolves come in but I am not sure that any of the wolves would venture that close to humans.  So, I drove back and forth a few times, scanning hillsides after the pack had gotten up to move off but did not see them.  They were headed the opposite direction.

Lately, the Prospect Peaks have been 5 to 7 wolves, down from 14 with no Third Sister.  The others could have returned to the 8 Mile and Third Sister could be dispersing – maybe with the black pup I saw her with last week, on Thursday morning.  But, I am worried after reports of hunters shooting dogs in the Gardiner area, that wolf poaching/hatred is alive and well in the area.  I sure hope that they caught the guy.

I returned to Soda Butte Valley and the Lamars, just as they were heading out for their evening stroll.  The top photo is a carefully stitched together composite of the wolves as they walked through – I did not have all of the wolves at one time during this excursion.

She is so much smaller than her two sons.  We believe there are three males in the pack.

The pack began to disappear, giving us brief glimpses here and there.  I did find them just as they descended into a passage that takes them to the other side of the mountains.  My guess is that they will not be around for a day or two.

We ended another happy day with the Lamar Canyons.