Evening Falls in Yellowstone - Nature's High Drama

I was very pleased to have made good time to Yellowstone National Park.  Given that I only had two full days plus this evening to take in all that I could, every hour would be precious.  Knowing that the wildlife is most active at dawn and dusk, would work to my benefit.

I made my way from the East Entrance to the Fishing Bridge area of the park.  I made stops at the park's concession store to buy ice for my cooler and the visitor center to get my US National Parks passport book stamped.  With those details accomplished, I headed on to the Canyon Campground to get checked in and take a shower.

Before heading out to see what I might be able to see, I did roll through the campground to find my assigned site.  There is nothing worse than arriving after dark, trying to locate your campsite.  I was very happy to see mine was right by the large toilet facilities (no showers, but flushing toilets and running water sinks).  I was surprised to see a decent sized pile of snow at the back side of my campsite; a reminder that nights would be cold!

With those details taken care of, I headed north on the upper loop road, over the Dunraven Pass.  It was amazing to see the deep snow piles along the road and in the scenic turn outs.  Again, a reminder that spring only recently arrived and that the weather inside the park was still on the chilly side.

As I made my way towards the Tower Falls Area, I stopped at a small turnout to fumble through my purse to find some hand lotion and lip balm.  As I got ready to put the van back into gear to continue on towards Lamar Valley, I noticed some movement way up on the hillside beside me.  Imagine my excitement to see a female coyote hunting (and eating) dinner!  I turned off the van and sat and watched her hunt voles or ground squirrels for about 15 minutes.  While sitting there, other cars stopped and strained to see what I was watching.

One pair of guys stopped and asked me what I was seeing.  When I said a coyote, they peeled away burning rubber.  Jerks! Unfortunately for me, my path would cross with these guys several times over the course of the next couple of days.  (Some people should just not be allowed in our National Parks!)

I had read on Facebook that the area around Tower Falls, and on towards Roosevelt and beyond, had a lot of black bears this year.  Several sows with cubs had been reported, as well as some very young males just recently turned out on their own by their moms.  It didn't take long for me to arrive upon what would be my first of many bear jams in this area.

Unfortunately, the road is very narrow, with limited places to safely pull off onto the shoulder.  I did find a place where I could park and then walk the short distance to where folks were safely observing the bear.

Back in the van, I continued my trek up to the Lamar Valley.  Darkness was coming quickly, it was nearly 7:30pm but I wanted to make at least one evening visit to the lush valley known for "The Lamar Canyon Pack" . . . the resident wolves that had been decimated over the past couple of years, by mange and a rival pack, the badasses of Yellowstone . . . the Mollies wolf pack.  To read about the dynamic between these packs, check out this blog article written last December by a local wildlife researcher Kathie Lynch.

When I arrived to one of the larger pullouts in the valley, there were people milling around.  I didn't see any spotting scopes or large cameras so I assumed that they were merely hoping to catch a glimpse of the wolves.  I got out and starting talking to some folks, surprised to learn that they had previously seen wolves and had hoped they'd return out of from behind the treeline that was easily 300 to 400 yards away.  What would happen next, and for the next 45 minutes, would make my entire side trip to Yellowstone worth the time and effort!  I would be living a true National Geographic experience, and getting photos would suddenly be unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

Howling . . . the wolves began to howl!  I had never heard wolves howling in the wild, not in person, first hand.  Sure I've watched enough wildlife shows to see them in Denali and Yellowstone to include the haunting sound of them communicating great distances . . . but never with my own ears, firsthand!  The memory of that evening is sending chills up my spine right now as I type this.  We were there to witness what seemed to be the pack communicating with one another.  Before us and deep in the woods were some of the pack while behind us and across the road another 300 or 400 yards, maybe more, was their den presumably with pups and at least one adult member of the pack watching over them.  There would be howling in front of us, followed by more vocalizing behind us.  This would go on for several minutes.

Someone had arrived with their spotting scope and was watching along the treeline.  "There they are!" he practically screamed . . . "I see them!"  And out from the trees WE ALL SAW THEM . . . with our naked eyes!  There were three black wolves and one much smaller grey one.  About that time, the "wolf patrol" arrived in the turnout and double parked as though they owned the place.  This group of volunteers are part of a research project to monitor and track the wolves in an effort to study their behavior and dynamic with other animals in the park.  From them we learned that the alpha female, AKA #926, was in the group before us, as well as one they called "Little Grey" . . . the others I'm not sure about.

The four of them slowly worked their way across the sage brush of the valley floor.  At times, they would stop and look around, but eventually would continue.  The alpha female and one of the other black wolves continued up towards the road, first crossing the river and then heading towards their den. I was totally out of position to take any photos; but witnessing this unfold before my very eyes was awesome!

The last black and grey wolf headed further north (right to left), still on the other side of the river.  About 200 yards before them was a large herd of bison, with many young calves.  The drama of life in the wild was unfolding right before our very eyes as the night grew darker!  Shivers were running up my back . . . I could hardly sit still in anticipation of what we might see next.

As we watched the bison, we noted that all of the calves were moving towards the back of the herd, further away from the line of sight of the two wolves.  At the same time, several large bison were coming to the front of the herd, forming what appeared to be a protective wall to shelter the young.  I was snapping photos in spite of the darkness, while also watching the full range of activities around me.

Then it happened, seemingly without notice . .  tails raised high in the air . . . the bison charged the two wolves at full speed!  As far away as we were, we could hear their hooves pounding the ground as they grunted and snorted.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  Everyone in the park is always warned about how protective mothers are of their young, regardless of the species.  EVERY wildlife encounter provides opportunities to be hurt by raging moms (sometimes even human moms).  But here were the bison taking on one of their most feared predators, successfully protecting their calves to see another sunrise.

Simply stunning to have had the rare occasion to witness this with my own eyes and ears.

Here are the photos from that sequence of events.  (Please click to enlarge!)   I wish they were better but as I said, I was a very long distance away as daylight escaped over the horizon.  I feel lucky to have these images to share.

Bison keeping a watchful eye

Preparing to charge

The two wolves hightail it out of there!

After that amazing experience, I made the 45 minute trek back to camp.  I was still wired from the excitement as I tried to settle in for bed at 10:00pm.  I drifted off to sleep thinking about my incredible day, appreciating just how lucky I am.

Oh yeah, total miles for today was 653.