September 8
We left at 5 am to drive to Yellowstone National Park. The stars are beautiful and it is a pleasant morning.

On the Madison we saw 2 bull elk, the larger one chased the other elk into the trees. There were a few groups of cows and calves in the meadows. It was great to hear the bull elk bugling. We saw a moose and calf.

A few bull bison are slowly walking right in the middle of the Dunraven road. We give them plenty of room and as we drive slowly closer they slowly moved to the side. The mountain tops are enshrouded with low clouds. At Antelope Creek we were excited to see 13 of the 20 wolves of the Agate pack. Two adult wolves brought in food for the pups.

We couldn’t see the wolves at Hayden but they had been seen there. Enjoyed watching a beautiful red tailed hawk and an eagle in flight.

We saw Rosie the Black bear below Tower and another black bear with a cub at the petrified tree area. We took a look at Hellroaring and there is just a smoky haze at the horizon. At Blacktail Lakes we saw a beautiful pronghorn. His neck is quite swollen so the antelope are in rut too.

In Mammoth there are 2 large bull elk with a lot of cows around. The signs are up to stay a safe distance and the rangers are there to answer questions and make sure people stay safe. We heard and saw the big sweepback at the Madison Junction. We saw 2 eagles on Riverside drive and 2 more bull elk running and bugling along the Madison River.

Stayed the night at the Gray Wolf in West Yellowstone.

September 9
The elk are in about the same place this morning as they were last night along the Madison River. We saw a few snowflakes early in the morning at Norris and Canyon. In the early afternoon it is snowing harder with small wet snowflakes but they melted as they hit the ground.

We had a good view of six wolves of the Hayden pack at Alum Creek - 1 black, 1 white and 4 grays. There are also a lot of bison. A couple of bulls are sparring head to head. We saw one calf who is still a reddish brown and hasn’t turned dark brown.

We saw two deer at Canyon and one is a spike with one horn. Dunraven is foggy with low clouds and Antelope creek is quiet with no one is looking for wolves or grizzlies.
Driving to Lamar at Speciman and the Little America area the bison herd is crossing the road and there is a stampede down the hill. We also see several antelope.
We met up with the Skidmores watching the Slough pack in Lamar Valley and saw 12 of the 22 wolves- it is wonderful to see them running, playing and howling.

The weather is windy, cool and lightly raining but it is great to be out and watching the animals. We saw a black bear between Roosevelt and the petrified tree. We stopped at Hellroaring turnout and saw 3 wolves of the Oxbow pack -1 black and 2 grays.
Crossing the road was a very emaciated female bison – she was in rough shape. We also saw a younger bison limping across the road.

By 11:30 am we are back at Antelope creek and saw 7 or 8 wolves of the Agate pack. Driving on to Hayden valley we saw 3 wolves of the Hayden pack.

It has been a wonderful weekend. Fall is in the air Yellowstone National Park with yellow quaking aspens, the oranges and reds in the underbrush and the majestic elk bugling in the early morning and evening hours.