Saturday, January 31, 2015

Cold!

This morning I finally got some of the famous Yellowstone cold temperatures. It was -10 F at the Lamar Ranger Station at 7:30 and was only +2 at 11:30. Everybody was really bundled up.

We saw all 8 of the Lamar pack wolves. They own this valley, but the Prospect Peak pack has been pushing east into it and displacing several packs as they go. The Prospects were just west of the ranger station and the Lamars were just above it in the hills. The 2 packs were howling back and forth at each other for a couple of hours before they both bedded down. Apparently territorial wars must wait on midday naps.

The rest of the day was spent looking around for more wolves. None were found. There was a coyote on an elk carcass that the Prospects had killed last night, but the photos are fairly gruesome so 'll leave them out.

As I was leaving the park, I got what may be my best pictures of the whole trip. A coyote was hunting and I was in just the perfect position with the setting sun for this sequence:

This was the last day in the park. I'm driving home on Sunday. I should arrive in late afternoon or early evening. The weather forecast looks good.