It was a tough day today. I expected to wake up to snow and darkness, but it was relatively pleasant, despite some colder temps.

Wolf watchers were active at Slough Creek. They had seen the Sloughs earlier in the morning, but lost them over the slopes of Little America. Later, the whole pack of scopers would stake out a bison carcass (the subsequent action has been reported in Maniuk's thread... sounds like quite a dramatic scene). I made it all the way to the Confluence and 7am before touching my camera. In this case, it was to photograph a Canada goose pair with their lone gosling.

This golden eagle was being harassed by ravens and magpies in the Lamar

Believe it or not, that was it until I reached the Tower road and met Helene and Rene. Nothing was happening at Tower at the time, and they had yet to visit the Lamar, so we headed back to the valley. All was quiet on the eastern front, until I spotted two hawks perched in a tree across the river close to the road. Naturally, before we could get fully set up and move toward the bank to get closer, both birds took off.

At this point, a decision was made to head to Cooke City. I needed to get gas (only $3.70/gallon!). Plus, H & R turned down my offer of warm oatmeal cooked on the gas stove in the brisk outdoors, and instead wanted a real meal in (gasp!) a toasty indoor setting.

So we turned back toward Cooke, and as we rounded the bend at the Confluence... WHOOSH! A huge shape swooped past H & R's vehicle, pursued by two smaller black forms. Two ravens were chasing down a golden eagle! Better yet, the eagle landed just above the road, so I quickly pulled over. It refused to leave, despite the fact that the ravens were harrassing it. One can only guess that they had a nest nearby. After being chased further down the road, the eagle took to the air again and headed back toward us. The eagle landed in a tree and things seemed to calm down a bit. The ravens remained watchful, but now the eagle was being investigated by a couple of magpies as well.

The raptor kept chasing the magpies away until it finally grew frustrated and took off for good. We could finally continue toward Cooke City again as snow began to fall lightly. That is, until we reached Soda Butte, where a coyote was stalking prey. We waited for it to pounce on something, but the darned thing couldn't find any critters to pounce on! I deemed it the Worst Mousing Coyote Ever (WMCE), and we left.

At Silver Gate, Helene spotted a moose in the willows. The snow was falling much harder now, but I had to get some shots.

We ate at Cooke and returned west, seeing a second moose and passing the WMCE (still hunting) and another coyote that someone had reported as a wolf. Then we made the fateful decision to head south in hopes of outrunning the wintery weather. If anything, the weather got worse the further south we went from Mammoth. We headed over to Hayden, where we just missed a grizz. I stopped to photograph some trees. Yes, trees. Folks that stopped to ask what we were looking at couldn't believe it.

Yes, Max photographed trees, damnit!

Across Fishing Bridge and out to Mary Bay. On the way, we learned that the grizz sow with cub (formerly with three, but one disappeared and is feared dead, and the second is still wandering around lost on its own) had just been seen through the trees! It was a beautiful setting, with snow falling softly to the forest floor... all we needed was a bear and cub to insert into this idyllic setting. But our subject had gone missing.

Even after traveling out to the Lake and back, there was still no sign of the bears. I did manage to snap a pic of some strange-looking wildlife.

Northward we went, meeting Bart and Monique on the way and getting in a few minutes of gossip before parting ways. Now I'm here, my hotel room's ceiling is leaking and has split open and I have a bucket sitting behind me.