Today we got up early and headed out to the Lamar Valley to see what wildlife we could find. First we returned to the lookout point where we met Kira on Thursday to listen for the wolves. But, alas, it was a mostly silent stop. It’s amazing how loud cars sound when moving through a natural landscape instead of moving through the towns and cities we live in!

We made a few more stops before sunrise around 8:10 am. At one stop, Melissa pointed out the rendezvous point of the Junction Butte wolf pack, located by its proximity to the “Marge Simpson” tree (a tree that appears oddly similar to the shape of Marge Simpson’s hair). This area is used by the pack in the summer when their pups are growing, as it’s very close to their denning site. 

We continued on our journey, singing the Disney tune “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Mulan. But instead of “let’s get down to business,” we created new lyrics to match our goal of sighting a wolf, and sang, “Is today the day that we spot a wolf?”

Today seemed colder than yesterday even though the sun was out. The actual temperatures hovered under 12 degrees Fahrenheit and our cold toes offered confirmation of the chill.  By lunchtime it was warmer and we were able to eat without our gloves. The temperature soared up to a whopping 22 degrees Fahrenheit in the afternoon. 

Throughout the day we searched for creatures large and small and helped each other find the animals using the clock method. The clock method is a way of helping each other locate wildlife by using the numbers on an analog clock face to indicate what direction we should look. We saw a golden eagle sitting on a branch and yawning. Close to the eagle were some American dippers standing in the icy water as they gathered food from below the shimmering surface. The ever-present bison nibbled on some grassy patches showing through areas of melted snow and occasionally wandered across the road in front of our cars. We saw bighorn sheep that kept their backs to our scope. Some camouflaged elk were barely visible under the trees east of the Roosevelt area.  Six coyotes traveled across the frozen landscape, catching small prey and taking care of their “business” as all living things do. A moose tried to play hide and seek with us by standing behind a tree. 

After lunch we visited sites along the main road looking for more wildlife before heading east through the park to find a good spot to go snowshoeing. We trudged through fresh snow and created our own path. The snow was waist deep and most of us stayed above ground, while Josh and Holly found ways to explore the subnivean environment. We found many tracks and even found a moose bed and bathroom. 

On the drive home we found an elk skeleton. We scoured the sagebrush for additional bones that were separated from the body by wolves. We found several bones and discussed the wolf behavior that resulted in this distribution of body parts. 

As we left the park tonight we encountered a surprise goodbye from a bull elk with 13-point antlers. Shoutout to Colton from Mr. Reed’s class – this is for you!

We arrived back at the cabin and found that the Aurora Borealis was shining overhead. It has been a fantastic last full day at Yellowstone – even if today was not the day for wolves.