I bet the question most Rangers get asked by far is “where can I see bears/wolves?” Rangers are either dead cagey about it or supremely confident. Some will say, “Well, you know, there’s no guarantee you’ll see bears or wolves” and you come back with, “Yes I know. But where are we most likely to see them? I’ve heard the Lamar Valley is good” and the dialogue continues along the same lines for a few minutes till they might grudgingly say, “Well, you might see something in the Lamar Valley.” Others will get out a map and say, “There are bears here and wolves here. They are best seen in the morning. I saw grizzlies and brown bears two weeks ago.” Who can blame them? The cautious ones don’t want any come back and the confident ones are pretty sure they won’t get any!

During our Ranger Orientation, we decided our best bet was to get to the Lamar Valley (north east of the park) by about 7 in the morning and while that wasn’t possible most of the time because of road closures, it would be possible on Saturday morning because the weekend traffic would mean the road wasn’t closed overnight. I duly roused the kids from comfortable sleep at 5:45 and we were on the road by 6.

By 6:35, we found the road was still closed and we had two options. Wait here till 8 when it opened and get to the Lamar Valley by about 9, 9:30 or drive the other way round the park and get there around the same time. Imagine how happy the kids were...

Still, the views around the lake were great, we crossed the Continental Divide twice and went through the snowline and given that we were passing the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and were too late for early morning feeding of wolves or bears, we drove the South Rim of said Canyon and walked to Artist Point.

Wow!

It’s easy to see why this is one of the most photographed views in Yellowstone. Dramatic canyon walls shot through with the reds, browns and greens of minerals and a thundering 93 metre waterfall fringed by green lush forests and watched over by ospreys and eagles. Geologically the Canyon is here because water has eroded the softer rocks and cracks in the lava river bed faster than their harder counterparts and melt water from glaciation has carved the walls. I was so impressed that I drove round the north rim too.

Then to the visitor centre for breakfast and a bit of larnin’.

From Canyon, we went north over Dunraven Pass – which was fortuitous because after today the Pass was closed due to heavy snowfall. Then onto Tower Falls at which point we’d branch right towards the northeast entrance of the park and the Lamar Valley. The kids were on big mammal watching duty since if I’m doing it we tend to end up off the road. I was of the opinion that we had got up so early to see bears and wolves and that that’s what we were going to see.

Just before Tower Falls we hit a major critter jam and stopped. The word was “Bear”! “I knew it,” I thought triumphantly, “I’ve even got binoculars!” But all we could see was an elk pacing continuously and looking in one particular direction. Eventually we pieced together from other members of the critter jam that the bear was behind a particular pine tree (the bottom right tree of an N shape) eating the elk’s calf. And we did get to see the bear in profile as it moved its head to and fro. It was a very sad picture.

We moved on to Lamar, stopping in Tower Falls for a rest and an ice cream. Just outside Tower was a fabulous display of rhyolite columns. A little further on, a coyote ran behind the car and disappeared into the pasture. We saw herds of elk and bison. A significant critter jam got us all excited but it was for a badger, for which you needed higher power binoculars than we had. A fox showed up for a photoshoot. We saw some pronghorns. A quick stop by the side of the road revealed a skeleton picked clean by scavengers. But no wolves, not one. It’s a funny thing but if I wasn’t dog tired from over 100 miles of driving already and if it hadn’t been getting too late to get back for a Ranger-led walk, we’d have just kept driving and driving looking for wolves – we did get very focused.

Back to Tower and another critter jam. We stopped again, and were rewarded with a longhorn sheep. Just beyond Tower Falls, we stopped to see if the bear was still there. It wasn’t but the elk mother was – walking around the spot, stopping and looking at it and presenting a picture of forlorn hopelessness. This stop made us too late for the Canyon Walk – so we decided to go on our own. Actually, I decided. You wouldn’t believe the grumbling I had to endure because I wanted a walk after about 130 miles on the road. I finally gave in and drove us back to West Yellowstone for a well-earned dinner.

Was it worth it? Yes.