Sitting at hotel computer in Missoula where I've decided to land for a few days before heading north. I'm a bit tired from all the driving, and the car has been closely-packed with too much gear. It feels good to get out of it. Tired of the smell of citronella candles, being surrounded by tarps, crushed packages of saltines, and empty cans of orange soda and tired (already) of my Ipod playlist. I'll be glad to rest up and get the car clear of this stuff--some of which A. is taking home with him tonight. I'm drinking coffee (Seattle's Best) with cream, enjoying an orange and thinking about yesterday AM in the Lamar Valley. Wolf watching is one of the most amazing and interesting opportunities Yellowstone affords, but it requires some canny preparation and expensive gear. (This is easily found for rent at a modest cost for those of us who don't spend our lives wolf-watching.)
Anyhow, yesterday morning got up at 3:45 AM and took a warmish shower before heading out into the cold. Bison and elk that graze on the hills in the Northeastern corner of Yellowstone make this spot ideal for watching predators hunt the herds. While there was no shortage of folks to show me how to use my spotting scope (this piece of gear is a tripod mounted, high-powered wild-life viewing gizmo), I failed to spot a wolf on my own. But there were plenty of people there with various kinds of devices (radio gizmos that scanned for wolf activity, binoculars, other kinds of scopes) that allowed me finally to spot a black wolf. No field guide or expertise, however, allows me to comment on either the sex or type of this particular wolf. I can tell you that this lone wolf that decided to kick it beside a river around half a mile from where I was watching it. It had a big tongue and was panting in the early morning cold, making me wonder if it was sick or maybe it was just lazy. However, this wolf looked like a bison could kick its ass, so I was not witness to any triumph of wolf-kind yesterday morning. Anyhow, that was my wolf in Yellowstone. I was told wolf-watching is often a far more exciting thing to do, and I believe the folks who told me that. Some of them have been doing it for years and the early-morning crowd was a global group, not just Americans.
The picture's not very interesting, but you can see the Indefensible, along with my early AM companions in Lamar Valley. It was taken at around 5:00 AM, so the light is artificially brightened. The wolf--well--imagine it about half a mile up the hill pictured, laying on its stomach beside a river and probably wondering what the heck all the weirdos down on the road are up to. :)
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