Friday, Jan 17. (It’s my sister Natalie’s birthday, our reason for being here.)

Day began as the last two. A 40 minute drive to our first restroom stop, still in partial darkness. (No electricity; smartphone flashlights are wonderful). As we were driving out, our guide (Josh) spoke with a watcher who remarked that there seemed to be activity on the northern hill. We parked again and waited for more light. Noticed both coyote and wolf footprints, which was a great way to compare sizes. Saint Bernard versus beagle.

As light came we saw wolves making their way up the hill. Josh was able to identify the pack’s name and number. Through our scopes we followed their route. There was a lot of back and forth movement among the faster ones to stay together. Josh was unsure whether they were on the hunt or had just eaten, though he leaned towards the latter. After they passed over the hill we loaded up and moved to the other side of the hill and river to a promontory that had an ideal view.

It was marvelous. Besides a near two hour view of the wolves, saw an eagle, two huge ravens, and a coyote. Not to mention glorious vistas. Snow feel intermittently, but the temperature was never too cold. I got some adequate (amateur) videos, which I will have to use for a Youtube show someday.

Lunch was followed by a lecture about the collars they put on some wolves and how the wolves and packs are monitored. Some sobering thoughts about the very wolf-unfriendly neighbors of the Park. During the talk the wind picked up remarkably. Yoriko picked the worst time to use the restroom, which was about 50 yards away. Suffered a whiteout on her return, but made it back without any missed turns.

We passed on the afternoon snowshoe hike and just drove east. Found several snow-covered bison, a huge moose, and four mountain goats, two of whom were having a staring contest. Got a great photo of one on his rear legs. On our return towards the hotel stopped to look at the frozen outer layer of a waterfall.

Overall, it was an incredible day. The evening included a beer-pairing dinner which fell short of my satisfaction. There is a host of foods that just don’t go with beer.

Tomorrow we fly home. Expecting no excitement. My next post will be from Johannesburg, South Africa on Jan 29th. Out of the freezer and into the frying pan. Bison beef will give way to water buffalo. Wolves transforms into lions.

These are a great number of photos from Thursday and Friday. A video will come later this week.

Thursday, Jan 16. (No photos. Wifi is not any good in the woods.). Not as cold, plus we’re a little more experienced. Another day of searching for animals. Wolf, Fox, coyote, mountain goat, elk, moose, and of course lots of bison. Bison were the stars. Blocking traffic, a dispute between bulls, crossing against the light, etc. Massive animals.

The tour guide is an expert on many subjects. Massively educational. Don’t know how much I’ll remember. HIs time management is a little lacking, but that’s a trivial problem. The post-lunch snowshoe hike was supposed to be “a little” more difficult than yesterday’s. I bailed at the first opportunity. Mostly uphill. Soft, soft powder. As the only person to bail though, I availed myself the bliss of walking alone in a silent, magical field of snow. The Sounds of Silence.

Dinner was great again, and this time paid for. Brought a 2013 bottle of Fess Parker’s Crockett, which was excellent. Lobster ravioli, French onion soup, Linguine with sausage, then desert. Huckleberry hot chocolate in the bar. Great day.

Wednesday, Jan 15.  No idea how to dress for sub-freezing temperatures.  High stress. Departed at 6:30 for a 45 minute drive to our first stop, which became 75 minutes.  In search of wolves.  Got advice from one of the foremost experts on spotting wolves (I’d read one of his books), though we didn’t know it at the time.  He directed us to the best spot.  He pointed my spotter scope at the wolves in seconds.  We saw wolves playing around.  Just so cool.  About a mile away, but with spotting scopes they were close enough to watch.  Trouble was the cold.  First fingers, then toes.  Everything else was fine.  Guide estimated the temp at zero degrees.  My old frostbit digits agreed.

Also saw lots of bison, a mountain goat, coyote, etc.  Our tour guide/driver was full of knowledge. Really impressive.  My lunch choice was make-your-own PB&J from little containers.  The PB was frozen.  It was indoors, so no complaints.

Afternoon was an easy snowshoe hike up to the site of a wolvers’ den.  Several stops to talk about the history of wolves in Yellowstone.  I had already read about much of it, but nice to learn again.  Succeeded in not making an unintended snow angel, so no problems.  The cold was not as bad as in the morning.

Returned to Lodge.  Excellent gift shop.  Dinner was wild boar medallions.  Excellent, though $$$.  For the second night we had a server with no skills opening or pouring wine.  I wasn’t allowed to do it myself.  But on the plus side I wasn’t charged a corkage fee.

It was a beautiful, sunny day.  Incredible vistas.  But the cold was bothersome.  Camera would freeze up seconds after pulling it out of my pocket.  So few pictures.

Tuesday, Jan 14.  This adventure involves hopefully sighting a few wolves in the dead of winter at Yellowstone National Park. We are here for three full days. We’ll certainly see other animals and be able to marvel at the gorgeous vistas within Yellowstone. The story of wolves here is a fascinating one. (I’ve done the reading.)

Early departure from John Wayne Airport.  Landed in Bozeman, greeted by quiet snow.  Beautiful airport.  Nice shops.  Sister Nat and Jim arrived.  No theatrics in our flights.  Marvelous.

Bus trip to Yellowstone Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel.  Very talkative driver (Jeff), who was a native of Pennsylvania until he happened by Yellowstone four years ago and fell in love with the place.  Saw mule deer and elk.  Check-in was slow, but in truth they had a lot to give us.  Vouchers, discount vouchers, gift certificate, bus token.  Oh, and room key.  Excellent room.  The hotel has plenty of old photos and a large wooden map of the USA.  I’ve got a lot to look at.

Dinner was fine, though we had to rush it to attend the introductory briefing.  Leader was brief.  There are 13 of us.  Tomorrow begins at 6:15.  Should be interesting.  Baby, it’ll be cold outside.