We got up late today as I was not feeling well. Today was sunny with a few clouds and very windy. We finally got started about noon.

We stopped to take some pictures of a large bull just past the entrance station. We saw a small bison herd near the road. About a dozen sheep were down low across the Gardner River at the Rescue Creek Trailhead. Three bison were in the road crossing the Gardner River Bridge in the Gardner Canyon. They looked like a mother with her two-year old and one-year old calves. Further on, about half a dozen bison were on the road heading north to lower elevations. We saw numerous small herds of bison and elk all the way to Mammoth.

We next encountered two bison on the road at Lava Creek. The big bull elk was out on the patrol cabin side of Black Tail Creek. We had seen him there several times last weekend. We stopped to look at the carcass near Floating Island Lake. Two coyotes were trying to get the last scraps of meat from the head. Ravens were in the trees, waiting for them to leave. We paused to take pictures until a car pulled up behind us.

We continued on to the Petrified Tree ski trail parking area to ensure we got good pictures since the camera had not been set properly. The car followed us into the parking area and it turned out to be Ballpark Frank. We sat and chatted with him for quite a while. We told him about the ermine that we saw last night. Frank left and we checked out our pictures and they were ok. We reset the camera.

We saw a fairly substantial elk herd as we headed down the hill to Tower Junction. A small bison herd was also in the meadow. It looks like the elk are moving in and the bison are dispersing. We saw the normal bison herds in the Lamar Valley but the elk herds are becoming larger. It seems that they are moving to lower elevations.

We stopped at Coyote for lunch and to look for the ermine. We did not see him. After lunch we went to the confluence but there were about five cars in the pullout so we continued on to Hitching Post. We scanned the area but did not see anything. We went on to Round Prairie.

At Round Prairie we had to stop for one bison in the road and another that was trying to cross the road. We checked out the divot from yesterday. As we approached the Pebble Creek parking area we saw a bison running full tilt down the hill on the left of the road. He joined up with a small group of bison and they all started running. We did not see anything bothering them. It seemed unusual as the snow was very deep and they expended a lot of energy plowing through it.

We turned around at the Pebble Creek parking area and saw several large divots across the road from the first divot. Evidently a few people were watching the first car and were not paying attention to where they were going. This can cause problems in Yellowstone in the winter.

We went back to Hitching Post and glassed the area again. Deb noticed a many ravens circling a willow thicket. Nearby, a bald eagle sat in a tree and a worried looking coyote ran across the meadow looking back over his shoulder. It sure looked like there was a kill in the vicinity but we could not see anything. We glassed the confluence parking area and it was still full. We went to the smaller parking area along the Soda Butte Creek.

We glassed the same general area as we had from Hitching Post and now saw four bald eagles, two in a tree and two flying. We saw a large number of ravens that would periodically rise up and then settle down in a willow thicket. Deb saw a flash of black moving in the willows. We soon saw two black wolves and a gray and eventually another black. They had made a kill along the Soda Butte and appeared to be pulling it to the top of the creek bank.

We got out the scope and watched them feed for a while. We later confirmed that they were the Druids including 302 and 480. They have not yet been seen mating, much to the disappointment of the researchers.

We continued on and saw the usual coyote across from the Buffalo Ranch. We saw Bob Landis in Little America and continued on back towards Mammoth. The coyotes had left the carcass near Floating Island Lake, and not even the ravens were interested in it any more. We did not see anything more of special interest until the large elk at Black Tail Creek. He had crossed the road and now the second bull elk was with him. Deb got out of the car to take some pictures.

We heard a radio call that Meagan was having some problems with her snow coach between West Thumb and Old Faithful. She had heard a clunk and noticed a burning smell but could not describe what kind of burning smell. She opened both roof hatches on the Bombardier and she said the smell was not too bad. Meagan is the driver known as the “breakdown queen”. She is sure living up to her name.

We had to stop for a couple of elk at Boiling River. When we got to Gardiner another elk crossed the road at the Best Western and we saw a small herd of elk at the Westernaire. There was a large bull elk in from of the Yellowstone Village Inn taking advantage of “Elk Stay Free”.

We unloaded everything from the car and went back to our room. We packed as much as we could for our trip home on Tuesday. Then we warmed up our leftovers from our dinner at the Park Street Grill. It was now quite late so we went to bed.