We tried to get an early start today, but as usual we didn’t make it. It was a little bit after 10:00 when we got in the park. At the gate, we were asked to pull over to the side to complete a survey about winter use of the park. We were asked a few questions about our current visit – were we on a day trip or overnight, were we planning to ride snowmobiles this trip, had we ridden snowmobiles in the park previously? We were told we would be mailed a more detailed survey in about two weeks and were given a post card of Grand Prismatic Spring that says on the back, “Thank you for agreeing to participate in the Yellowstone-Grand Teton National Parks Winter Survey. As you may know, the National Park Service is planning to change the way Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are managed in the winter. The National Park Service wants to hear from you and other visitors as they plan for future winters. In about two weeks you will receive the Yellowstone-Grand Teton National Parks Winter Survey in the mail. Enjoy your visit.” It will be interesting to find out what is included in the survey.

Just past the rock slide area, Lew spied a big horn ram silhouetted against the sky. We stopped to get some pictures and witnessed pandemonium on the top of the mountain. Something spooked a whole herd of big horns – we lost track of them after counting 24. They came pouring over the top of the hill and down into a small draw. After screeching to a halt, they whipped around and looked back in the direction they came. I walked up the road to see if I could get a better angle on what might have frightened them, but couldn’t see anything. They soon settled down and gradually moved back over the top out of view. As we looked over the top of the hill, we noticed the sun, which was just peeking out above the cliffs, had two complete rainbow rings around it. When we passed Mammoth campground, we noticed at least four tent campers plus numerous elk camping out in the single digit temperatures.

We made our way into Mammoth and stopped at the Visitors Center to pick up a backcountry guide. While there we spoke with Ranger MacNeil Lyon, whom we met last year in the Lamar. We told him about the big horn incident and he shared some photos he took of the sheep up in the same general vicinity. We asked about the cougars out at the Lamar Canyon and he said the researchers thought they had moved on.

Back on the road, we saw a lot of elk on the hill across from the chapel. We stopped at Undine Falls, but the light was too poor to get a good picture. The pretty boys had deserted the Wraith Falls area; we figured they must have moved back into the woods. In the Blacktail Lakes area, the bison herd had crossed the road and moved down next to and on the ponds. From there until Little America, we saw a few scattered herds of elk, but not much more. I forgot to mention yesterday that there are now four recycling bins at the Roosevelt pit toilet – one each for glass, newspaper/office paper, cardboard and aluminum/steel cans.

In Little America, we joined a few other cars at a pullout overlooking the Crystal Bench area. A couple with a scope pointed out a black blob beneath a large rock on the slope above us. They said it was an unknown black wolf and that there were at least two others behind the rock. If they hadn’t told us it was a wolf, I would never have guessed, because it was lying with its head tucked in and looked more like a bare spot on the rock than a wolf. Rick stopped and confirmed that these three wolves were unknowns. He also said that 217 and 261 were on the north side of the road, somewhere toward Slough Creek. He had signals, but no visuals. The wolf tracking plane was flying over the Tower area, but we didn’t hear what they were monitoring. We stayed awhile and eventually, the black blob moved and revealed two wolf ears and a snout. At the same time, two more sets of Charles ears, a pair of black and a pair of grey, appeared behind the rock. All of them stretched and came out in front of the rock for a short while. They played hide and seek behind the rock for awhile. Finally, the original black blob converted to that state again and the second black hid behind the rock, while the grey gave us some beautiful poses on top of the rock. The grey soon settled down in a small pocket on top of the rock, so we decided it was time to move on. Two coyotes crossed the road in front of us as we were leaving.

The bison and elk were out in the usual numbers in the Lamar. Just past the trash can, we met up with Doug’s beggar coyote pulling his standard trick. He was lying right in the middle of our side of the road. As we slowed to decide what to do, he jumped up and stood in the road in front of us. As we inched forward, he trotted to the driver’s side of our car. He moved closer to the car and when we made no move to offer him anything, he came closer, looking as if he would move back in front of us. We inched by him and in the rear view mirror, saw him resume his station in the road. At the confluence, we saw three big horn rams munching down the grass on the slope to the west.

We thought we would head up to Round Prairie and see if anything was going on there and then perhaps see what we could find up at Barronette Peak. There was a recent kill near the road at Round Prairie. Just past it, we were stopped by a ranger who was directing traffic around a car that slid off the road. The wrecker was there, ready to pull them out, so we had to wait until they were finished. The ranger told us the kill had happened that morning (but Doug later told us it was an elk calf killed by coyotes about three days ago). It only took a few minutes to get the car back on the road, so we continued on to Barronette. Lew was joking about looking for white goats in the patches of snow; so I showed him how easy it was by finding one within a minute of stopping. It looked like a big male, right in the middle of a large snow field shining in the sun. It was the only one we saw, but the timing was perfect. We also saw a golden eagle, which had been soaring above the mountains, land on the highest craig to the east.

On the way back, we saw a coyote lying in the middle of Round Prairie. Back in the Lamar, we met up with Ray T., Ray, and Doug at the confluence. A Yellowstone Institute bus passed by and we saw Karen B. inside, waving madly to us. Doug told us about a new carcass in the Lamar River Canyon, so we went to check it out. It was right at the bottom of the cliff along the river. It looked untouched and was being visited only by magpies. We speculated on whether the lions had returned or whether it had been injured on the road or had somehow fallen off the cliff. We’ll have to check it again tomorrow and see if it has been disturbed.

Since it was getting late, we headed back to Little America to see if we could find the wolves from earlier in the day. They were gone, but we pulled into the Boulder pullout, where Doug caught a fleeting glimpse of wolves heading down one of the rocky hillsides to the north. We moved further west, hoping to pick them up again. Lew and I found a lone black wolf across the river, wandering toward the west on a small bench. Doug climbed up a small knoll and soon had three greys and a black in sight. I joined him and watched two of the greys and the black disappear behind a small ridge. We again moved further west and watched the two greys and the black come out and bed down between us and a small herd of elk. Doug moved back east and reported that he could see another black and the other grey. The light was fading fast and the cold rapidly deepening, so we decided to pack it in and head back to the motel.

We took it slowly, especially after seeing a cow elk traveling on the road near Phantom Lake. At Wraith Falls, the pretty boys were out, displaying their antlers in the soft light of the rising moon. We made it safely through Mammoth and were waived through the gate by our friendly ranger. Since we want to get out early tomorrow, it’s time to crawl in the bed.