Yippee! We got to bust through the gates at Mammoth today and drive south into a winter wonderland. The amount of snow surprised me, seeing as how the northern range has already melted. Of course it snowed yesterday and so the trees had snow on them, making it all so beautiful.
Not much going on down south, I’m afraid, just nice to get there. Still a lot of snow at Old Faithful and at Canyon. There were reports of a grizzly near Canyon and one near Beryl Springs. I missed both.
A bison herd was coming down the Madison, heading east and there was one brand new, very cute calf that held our attention for quite some time. The calf was with a large family group and was getting picked on by others quite a lot, while mom seemed to ignore them. Finally, the calf went off by itself, up a hill, to bed in some sage. It was quite a distance from the group and just barely got bedded before mom went up and retrieved her youngster. Poor thing was tired and no one would let it sleep. They were finally leaving it along when I left – life is rough out there, even for cute babies.
The raven couple are back nesting at Golden Gate. Mom was on the nest and dad was keeping an eye out from the pullout.
In contrast to the south, the northern range was hopping. Bill H. said that he saw 4 grizzlies, 6 black bears and 4 wolves! Apparently they are thinking that one of the Junction females is denning at Slough because one of the bears went up to the den area and caught some guff from 911 and 890. Not sure while female is denning there but my guess is 969 – with 970 to the south and 907 to the west. Just a guess. No word on the Lamars but he said that Dark Black was seen yesterday. No word on the Prospects.
Apparently, someone photographed a grizzly at Phantom Lake, of all places! The black bear that was denning there has moved out.
Late this afternoon I did a quick 2+ mile hike out on the Blacktail, to the north. A bit windy and chilly but oh so nice. I had taken snowshoes and skis out of the car and so could not hike anywhere down south. Guess I’d better put them back in for a while longer.
That is about all for today, see you tomorrow.
Love the little ones!