Sunday, May 23,2021 Yellowstone Hot Springs RV Park, Corwin Springs, MT Rain! It's cold and rainy as I write this. I went out this morning, but the rain and snow obscured things so much, you couldn't see anything. So I came back to camp, had a hot lunch and a nap. Now I'm going to go into Gardiner and post the last few days, come back and have a hot shower, a hot dinner, and another nap. Tomorrow is my last day here, so unless I get some spectacular story or picture, this will be the last post for this trip. I expect to get home on Wednesday.
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Saturday, May 22,2021 Yellowstone Hot Springs RV Park, Corwin Springs, MT More of the same. As expected, it warmed and cleared today. It got up to 70F before it clouded over and got much cooler. The day went much the same – out early to see the wolves and pups and then wander around looking for interesting things. I found 6 grizzlies before the day was over, 3 of them 3 times. It was a mom with 2 cubs of the year – very small things. I saw them twice way up high and later, as I was coming back to camp, much lower. And another close encounter with a coyote. It wasn't interested in me except how to get past:
Friday, May 21,2021 Yellowstone Hot Springs RV Park, Corwin Springs, MT Snow! The weather forecast was right – I woke to a light dusting of snow on the truck – all on the north side where the wind was coming from. It was cold – 34F. Out to Slough Creek and watched wolves for a bit, but the wind and cold drove them into the den early. I have been catching mice. I caught 4 yesterday and last night, using up my supply of traps. So I went in search of more. Once again, I ended up in Bozeman and bought 8. The last of my previous supply is still set, so that may be the end of it. No pictures – I spent the rest of the day in the camper and getting a shower at the campground shower. It's 5:00 pm now and the wind is still blowing and a light snow is falling. It's supposed to start warming and clearing tomorrow.
Thursday, May 20,2021 Yellowstone Hot Springs RV Park, Corwin Springs, MT Moose and squirrel – I mean bear.. It was sort of the usual day – up early, drive to Slough Creek and wath the wolves for a bit and then drive around looking for more interesting stuff. The interesting stuff came early. I went out to Warm Spring trailhead and took a short nap – I hadn't slept well last night. When I woke, there were lots of cars around. It turns out that there were a cow and calf moose in the meadow next to the trailhead: Then, on the way back towards the Lamar Valley, I heard on the radio they were seeing grizzlies all over – north and south of the road in the middle section of the valley. I managed to get this picture through the scope, hand holding the phone: It was terribly windy by then. The bear pic was taken while I took shelter from the wind behind the truck. I went back to Slough Creek to see if anything was happening, but the wind was so bad, I decided to call it a d...
Wednesday, May 19,2021 Yellowstone Hot Springs RV Park, Corwin Springs, MT More bears. I got a late start this morning and didn't see much until after lunch. I was driving just west of the confluence of Soda Butte Creek and the Lamar River when I saw a huge bunch of cars. They wee parking all over because of a grizzly and her cub fairly close to the road:
Tuesday, May 18,2021 Yellowstone Hot Springs RV Park, Corwin Springs, MT Moving day. I used up all the time allowed in the National Forest campground, so I've moved to this RV park. It's very new, so I was able to reserve a week's stay with just a week's notice. I'll be here until the 25th and then I'll start home. That took all morning, so I just spent the afternoon in the park. The big excitement was a pair of courting black bears walking near the road between the Specimen trailhead and the Yellowstone picnic area. One of them came down to the road right in front of me and then turned back
Monday, May 17,2021 Yankee Jim Canyon National Forest Campground Had a good show this morning. I was out in the Lamar Valley looking for Doug. I found him and Melba at at turnout watching a wolf. Soon after I got there, 4 coyotes began harassing the wolf. She just defended herself and only got a few nips from one of the coyotes. I know it was a she because her collar ID'd her. They quit messing with her and started down the river toward where we think there is a carcass. It's out of sight from the road, so there is some doubt. Along the way, they encountered another wolf. This one wasn't so defensive. It crossed a small branch of the braided river and went after them. First chasing one and then another. I did get a mediocre picture through the scope of it crossing the stream: Tomorrow is moving day. I've used up my time here in the National Forest campground, so I made reservations in a nearby RV park. I'm there through the 25 and then I'll be ...
Sunday, May 16,2021 Yankee Jim Canyon National Forest Campground Boring stuff. It's been 3 days of pretty much the same thing. Drive down to Slough Creek and watch the wolves for most of the morning and hen drive around looking for something else to see the rest of the afternoon. A few things happened – I found Melba and, after looking through the new 115mm objective for the ATX scopes, I ordered one. It's on backorder and the earliest she thinks it'll be here is July. My friends John and Deb from Fort Worth left today. We had a good time watching the wolves and the pups together. I caught a mouse in the trailer. All I've been able to get are several bad photographs, so here they are: A bad picture of the bison causing a traffic jam on the Lamar River bridge through my windshield: A bad picture of a moose in mid-day near Pebble Creek: A bad picture of a Swinson's hawk taken with the phone through the scope: The last one is kind of interesting. That...
Wednesday, May 12,2021 Yankee Jim Canyon National Forest Campground Lots of wildlife! I spent most of the day at Slough Creek watching the wolves. Much of the morning, the pups would come out onto the platform at the den entrance we call “the porch” and then go back in. At one point, the mother was nursing them there. I managed to get a not terrible picture with the phone through the scope: Later, we had a coyote come right through the people standing around. It was maybe 20 feet away. So close, I could only get ½ of it in the frame: We later had a grizzly bear way up on Specimen Ridge and on my way out, there was a black bear at Geode Creek.
Wednesday, May 12,2021 Yankee Jim Canyon National Forest Campground More camper troubles! Today I had to make another trip tom Bozeman. This time for batteries. I knew the batteries in the trailer were nearing the end of their life, but was hoping to get through this trip before replacing them. No luck. They weren't holding a charge to last through the night. So, it was off to Bozeman to get new ones. These are 6 volt golf car batteries at $160 each. I needed 4 of them. I found them at Batteries + and was soon back in camp installing them. But it was another day spent.
Tuesday, May 11,2021 Yankee Jim Canyon National Forest Campground Puppies! And other assorted wildlife. Got out early today – I left camp at 6:00 am. It didn't help, though. Nothing happened until around 10:00. That'll teach me. Spent the first couple of hours driving around trying to find Melba to talk about the scope part – no luck, I never saw her all day. Finally, I went to Slough Creek to see what was happening at the wolf den. Not much for about an hour, and then pups came out. Mom was laying in the den entrance and we saw at least 4 pups – 2 blacks and 2 greys. They are about 3 weeks old and maybe 8 inches tall. Lots of frolicking about and climbing on Mom. A one point, Mom fell off the platform at the entrance we call the porch. The distances are so far – it was measured at just over a mile – pictures aren't really any good without the phone adapter. Later, I went looking for Melba again. Along the way, I encountered a black bear just off the road:...
Monday, May 10,2021 Yankee Jim Canyon National Forest Campground More wildlife. Started out this morning talking to Doug McGlaughlin, the man whom sells the Swarovski spotting scopes everybody here uses. They just released a new 115mm objective for their ATX series. I have the 95mm. After talking tom Doug and Melba, his partner, I'm going to order one. But it'll be backordered until late summer, at least. I'm supposed to find her, somewhere in the northern part of the park, tomorrow. There has been some activity around the wolf den, but not much in the way of pup sightings. Just a short one this morning. In the meantime, I had a close encounter with a coyote: Got a look at the osprey nest in the Lamar Canyon: and just enjoyed the scenery: On the way back to camp, there were a group of bighorn rams right near the road:
Saturday, May 9, 2021 Yankee Jim Canyon National Forest Campgound I'm back at it. I got my second shot of the COVID vaccination in early April, so all is good for going back to Yellowstone. This year, the blog will be a little short of photos. Normally, I use my phone through the spotting scope with an adapter. The problem is that I recently got a new phone and the adapter company won't have an adapter for it until the fall. I'll try to take more “atmosphere” photos to show what things look like. So, with that out of the way, on to the adventure. And an adventure it started out. First, they changed the campground I normally use to a reservation system and that means it fills immediately. So, now I have to use campgrounds outside the park. When I got here, my first choice – Carbella BLM Recreation area was closed for renovations. That sent me to my backup – the National Forest campgound in Yankee Jim Canyon – about 15 miles north of the park. Next, when I got set ...