Today we had an early start, but it definitely paid off. Another day, another opportunity for fulfillment. Here we are, a brand new day in search for wildlife and adventure. Not thirty minutes into our day, we were able to watch an unbelievable sunrise over the mountains and a picturesque scene with a black bear eating sticky geraniums.  The cherry on top of the cake of the wildlife viewing of the morning was a magnificent lonely black wolf out in a valley.

We were able to watch some bison calves running and playing with each other while the mamas grazed nonchalantly. More pronghorns and elk were seen and this was all before 7am. 

Kira Cassidy, wolf biologist in Yellowstone, was a guest of honor for us today. Talking to us about tracking wolves and giving a depth of knowledge about wolves to our group – the size of litters, mating habits, relationships with other animals in the same ecosystem. 

We did a pit toilet race as the group split in two and lined up for the restroom – team Melissa against team Danielle. It was more fun than you may think, especially when trying to beat out a rain storm, too. 

 A moment to breathe, think and be one with the valley, here we are all gathered together having a million dollar picnic lunch, with the most beautiful and out of this world landscape, a moment to reflect, connect and disconnect.

We witnessed a bison stampede around 1pm, with multiple hundred or more running down the valley. We never could tell what spooked the bison, but they were running at a fast clip even crossing the river deep with their calves.

1:25 – Ten minutes late (due to yet another bison jam), we met up with rangers Avery and Nicole who work with the park service. Avery led us through a survey process for Pika at Hellroaring trailhead. This was super cool and we saw many pika run and dodge from rock to rock in a talus slope full of eroded igneous rock from an old lava flow. These little guys make the cutest “eeep” sound and make themselves an edible bed called a haystack under the rock. 

Woohoo! What a way to finish our third day of adventure by spotting a coyote and its five pulps by their den. Finally, for the last sight of the day – a big, round, and wild grizzly bear, near to the river, and that beauty decided to amaze all of us running through the river, crossing the road through the valley directly to the mountains. A total Queen B!