We got up, got our showers, got organized and had breakfast. After all that, it was about 10:00 until we finally got going. When we left our motel, it was above freezing. We had a light snowfall overnight but it had already melted. We made the traditional entrance through the arch, seeing our first bison of the day just beyond it. We also saw our first elk of the trip. We had a pleasant chat with the ranger on duty. He told us the snow conditions in the park were bad and the only vehicles allowed to travel from Mammoth to Old Faithful were the rubber tracked snow coaches, which can travel over bare roads.

As we approached the sheep management area at McMinn Bench and Mt Everts, Deb thought she saw a bighorn sheep silhouetted at the top. We stopped to glass the ridge and she was right. There were several ewes and young rams along the ridge. We counted at least 20 sheep. At the same time Deb saw a large bird land in the same area. She could not tell what it was with the binoculars so she got the spotting scope. The bird was a golden eagle. Before we left we noticed a large ram on the ridge behind us. He had been there all the time but we did not notice him until we were ready to leave.

The Gardner River was gorgeous, steaming in the sun, with mallards, kingfishers, and magpies flying around. The parking area for Boiling River was open and several cars were parked there. We drove by, discussing whether we would take a soak later. Deb said I have to go first. We will check it out later in the week after we return from Old Faithful.

The snow was very sparse with many bare areas. The roads were clear out to the Lamar with only occasional snow in the shaded areas. The snow on the roads was from last night’s light snowfall. It was extremely warm just like yesterday. Neither of us wore our jackets and I did not button my shirt. Deb lost her long johns before we reached the Children’s Fire Trail parking lot.

There were no bull elk near the Wraith Falls parking area. This is the first year we did not see them there. They had moved to the wooded area across from Blacktail Ponds. We saw a large herd of bison near the service road that goes back to the ranger’s cabin. There was a large herd of elk across the road from Phantom Lake. We had seen elk in the Phantom Lake area before, but not on that side of the road. There were a number of smaller herds of elk and bison between Phantom Lake and the Yellowstone River picnic area.

We noticed a number of cars in the pullouts in the east side of Little America. We pulled over in the parking lot before the Crystal Bench trailhead. I opened the car window and we were serenaded by a number of coyotes. Before we got out of the car, there was a knock on the window. It was Cathy W. We talked for a while. She said there was a lot of activity earlier in the morning including a howling match between the Druids and Agates. The Slough Creek pack was also in the area. While we were talking a coyote went by on the other side of the road. The wolves had already bedded down so we did not want to stay too long. We do not spend a lot of time watching sleeping wolves. We said goodbye to Cathy and headed east.

There were a number of people on Dave’s Hill watching bedded down wolves. We did not spend much time there. There was a very large herd of bison down in the valley near the Lamar River. We stopped at the confluence for lunch. Cathy said there had been a golden eagle in the area and that the otters had also been spotted there. It started to snow rather heavily while we were having lunch. The visibility was that bad that we could not see Mt Norris. We started to drive east and Deb said she thought she saw something in the Soda Butte Creek. We went back and there was a beaver. We took some pictures but they did not come out too well due to the snow.

We went as far as the Hitching Post and then turned around. We did not see anything else in the Lamar except far a couple of coyotes. We stopped at Dave’s Hill and saw another golden eagle in a tree on the ridge behind Dave’s Hill. We continued driving west. Most of the wolf watchers had left Little America and we decided to head back toward Mammoth. A coyote crossed the road in front of us just past the Children’s Fire Trail.

We stopped at Blacktail Ponds to look for the elk. There was a pair of bull elk sparring west of the lakes. There were also a few on the hill across from the lakes. We saw about five sheep in the sheep management area at McMinn Bench and Mt Everts. Cathy W was there trying to get some pictures.

We decided to go back to the Old Yellowstone Trail to see whether we could get some good pictures of the pronghorn. The small groups of pronghorn had consolidated and moved to the north. There was a small herd past the Old Gardiner Cemetery. A larger herd was in the flats near the road to the ranger’s stables. We saw two bald eagles along the Yellowstone River. The largest herd of pronghorn was in the flats before the Beattie Gulch trailhead. We took some pictures and then headed back to the room.

When we got back to the room, Deb tried to call the airline concerning the missing bota bottle. There was no answer. We downloaded the pictures we took during the day. After we finished we headed out again. We stopped at the grocery store and then headed to Mammoth. It was starting to get dark so we went back to the room. We had chicken pies for supper and then retired for the evening.