It didn't take long to spot the first bear of the trip

Please note that the original trip report started on "Day 0," which was the evening I arrived in the park. I have incorporated that content into "Day 1" of this report.

(Day 0)
Driving straight through, I made it from Seattle with a couple of hours of daylight to spare, though with little to show for it. Lots of wildlife during the drive over. Ospreys occupying nests along I-90, bald eagles perched in trees, a moose in a large marshy area right next to the freeway in Idaho (in the exact spot I saw it last year... maybe it's made of wood).

I made it to the outskirts of Gardiner around 6:30, and decided to stop at the osprey nest just a couple miles outside of town. One osprey was in the nest, and I set up hoping to catch its mate arriving with food. A magpie flew by. A goose flew by. A pelican flew by. So did a raven. And a hawk, diving into the underbrush along the river bank (unfortunately too close for my lens to be able to focus properly before it swooped away). But no osprey.

Feeling as though I wasted a half hour, I ventured into the park. Things were fairly quiet, though there are a lot of people here right now. One of the sandhill cranes was nestled in the middle of Floating Island Lake, but wasn't moving. I got all the way to Roosevelt, where I spotted two photographers walking back from a black bear in the distance. It was heading the wrong direction, so I continued on up Tower Road, in hopes of seeing a fox or Rosie or the owls.

The first thing I saw was a grouse. It was still light enough out that this was one of the few usable photos I got from today. Arriving at Tower, I looked around for the owl nest, but to no avail. Having re-read the directions, I will have to try again tomorrow. No Rosie either, so I headed back down toward Roosevelt. The bear spotted earlier was now heading toward the road, so I set up for a couple shots, though nothing really turned out. The bear crossed the road in front of me and ambled on.

As a herd of humans followed the bear, the Rainy Lake fox appeared! It was heading our direction, but I think the crowd and the loud exclamations frightened it away. One day I'll get a decent shot of it! At that point I spotted Helene and Rene driving by. I probably scared them as I waved them down... We saw moose at Floating Island Lake and watched as the second crane came gliding in for a smooth landing in the darkness. They then showed me the owl nest, which was indeed in the tree I've been looking at these last two years... maybe this time I'll get to see those owls she's getting pictures of.

Oh, and having arrived a day early in Gardiner, I didn't have a place to stay... but luckily not every hotel was booked. Almost.

(Day 1)
I woke up at 5, and my alarm wouldn't stop going off. Not the best way to start the day on not much sleep. It wasn't long though before I was in the car and headed eastward. I had decided the day before that even though there was a lot going on in Hayden and the Lake area, I should still visit the northern stomping grounds first, with maybe a trip south slated for the afternoon.

The sun rose over the mountains as I drove quietly into Little America. The stillness, however, was about to end. I rounded the bend into the Lamar and entered a mad house. I had never seen so many people crowded into this place, even during the height of summer. The photo above doesn't do justice to the massive throng, which was piled into three turnouts and parking along the road. Apparently the night before, the Slough Pack had taken down an elk in the river at around 7:30 (a little before Helene, Rene and I were first meeting about 10-15 miles away). Now everyone within five states had rushed to the Lamar to witness what might unfold the next day. Doug Smith and Rick McIntyre were playing traffic cop and tour guide at the same time, trying to keep the mob safe and informed.

An encounter with the Slough alpha male started a great Day 1

Actually, there wasn't that much happening when I arrived. There was a black wolf out across the river that was occupying everyone's attention. It was ambling across the flats (at one point chased by some sandhill cranes, whose honks could be heard echoing throughout the valley). There was a rumor that the Slough alpha male was on the other (north) side of the road, but nobody in the largest groups seemed to know or care. After snapping a couple very distant shots of the black wolf, I slipped away down the road to see if someone might know where the alpha might be.

I walked past a gentleman standing by his car, and he asked if I had seen the gray wolf. I told him I heard it was up the road somewhere, but I hadn't seen it.

"It's right there," he said.

Luckily, I managed to get some shots despite my excitement. And to think, of the 200 people here, there were only three looking at the north side of the road and this wolf. That didn't last long though. The wolf was obviously looking to cross the road and join up with its family member. After giving off a howl, it began running parallel to the road. Slowly, the crowd turned in a wave as word got out that the wolf was near the road. Naturally, they began to follow it, including a car that kept pacing it. The rangers eventually stopped everyone, and the wolf disappeared down the road.

A drive through the rest of the valley yielded plenty of bison and a pack of coyotes that were picking over an old carcass. I headed back out of the valley and wandered up to Tower to try to find the famous owl nest. Luckily, Helene and Rene were up there, along with some scopers, so I finally got to see where the nest was. Helene and Rene were off to the Lamar, and I eventually headed back down the road. Near Calcite Springs, a grouse met me in the middle of the road. As I slowed, it ran straight at my car, giving me an evil eye.

It then circled around the front of my car, and I couldn't see it. As I was in the middle of the road, I didn't want to run over it while I was pulling over. So I hopped out of the car to see where it went... when I was suddenly attacked from behind! Peckpeckpeck on my leg! There were actually two grouses, and now with my attacker in sight, I was able to pull the car over without causing any further injuries. Naturally, the crazy warbird flew off in a panic when I got out of the car again to take pictures (wuss!), so I snapped a few of its more peaceful buddy instead.

Back toward Petrified Tree I went, in search of black bears. Before the PT drive, I pulled over behind a couple of cars. It turns out there was a coyote den right beneath the road. Perhaps this is the second den Bill mentioned(?)... I was lucky enough to get a couple shots of one of the adorable pups before he slid back inside the den. I waited a while, but the pups did not emerge, so I kept going... and found my bear at Floating Island Lake. Afterward, I headed back to check on the coyote pups, and instead was treated to a male grouse (non-aggressive) showing off for the ladies.

So far, it had been quite a day, but I couldn't believe my next encounter. I ended up back in the Lamar. The wolf activity had diminished, and at this point there were only a few stragglers left. I headed up to Round Prairie and back, thinking that maybe H & R were somewhere around there. They weren't, and things were fairly quiet, so I headed back through the valley. I noticed a van pulled over at the Institute, but I couldn't see anything. As I slowly pulled around them, I caught a glimpse of a flat furry shape waddling through the brush and over the hill.

Max's first-ever badger sighting was yet another highlight

It was a badger, my first in Yellowstone. I grabbed my gear and was fortunate to spot it crossing the road and into the valley. I followed it from a distance until it reached the river bank and disappeared. Slowly, I approached further down the bank and was rewarded with a curious badger head peeking out at me from a hole. It continued to dig a couple of new holes before deciding which one was more comfortable and turning in for a midday nap.

Back to the coyote den again, again with no luck. One of the adults appeared briefly, but didn't approach the den site, instead just lounging in the grass. After waiting for over an hour, I decided to head to the other coyote den that Bill had spotted from the Self-Guided Tour boardwalk at Blacktail. A boatload of photographers were setting up and we waited for about a half hour before we were rewarded. The mother showed up with a meal an the pups came bounding out of their hiding place. I have so many amazingly cute photos from this encounter (Helene and Rene joined me for the latter half of it), but I'll only post a few at this point.

Even after all that the day wasn't quite over. I showed H & R the other den, but of course the pups there were nowhere to be found. We checked out the Tower owl nest once more (the adult was gone) and then I headed back toward Gardiner, but not before one last stop at that frustrating den (the pups were finally out, hooray!) and a peek at the Mammoth owl nest (yes, Helene, I finally saw them, though Momma was off hunting there as well).

So now it's all downhill from here, huh?