Day 29 WS @ YNP continues:

Another cloudy day in the Northern Range of Yellowstone Nat'l Park. There wasn't much snow falling in the morning but the cloud ceiling was very low and impeded our visuals. As it was the pack was on Jasper Bench and would have been difficult to see regardless of the weather. We did see them travel to the West but they soon moved out of view. There were seven members in the pack today - #106F's whereabouts are unknown as we haven't had a flight to locate wolves for many days now. Shortly after the wolves moved out of sight the radio telemetry indicated that they had moved into the Crystal Creek drainage.

Rob and I drove to the Slough Creek pullout and attempted to locate the wolves. Twenty minutes of scanning through thick clouds proved fruitless - and then the sky unleashed its fury. Within a couple of minutes a heavy moisture cell moved into the area and we were in blizzard conditions. Further wolf watching was pointless so we headed into Tower to wait out the storm. Over the next two hours the snow came down horizontally and piled up another 4 to 5 inches.

When the storm broke we headed back out into the field and found that the Druids had moved back into the Lamar Valley. Viewing still wasn't ideal as the clouds hung low but we were getting some very strong signals from the pack. Finally around 4 pm the clouds broke and we had clear viewing. But still no wolves. Then the wolves came into view rather dramatically. The pack was near the Fossil Forest below Specimen Ridge and apparently had been up in the forest. When we first saw the pack they were chasing a 6-point bull elk - and they were headed in our direction.

The adult wolves were very close to the elk - in fact, you could imagine that the elk was the canoe and the wolves were outriggers. The two pups trailed the pack and the elk by 50 meters or so. It seemed that the wolves were looking for an opportunity to attack the elk on his flanks. This elk, although running and therefore vulnerable to attack, was not defenseless. Twice he lowered his antlers towards the wolves - there wasn't any contact but the posture was sufficient enough to send wolves tumbling out of the way, snow flying everywhere. At times I could also see the elk kicking out his back hoof towards any wolf that strayed to close to his hind quarters. This chase lasted about a kilometer plus. By the end of the run I could see that both elk and wolves were exhausted. The elk eventually crossed the Lamar River and then came to an abrupt halt on the North bank. As he climbed the bank he was slowed down because #40F had grabbed hold of his right haunch. With two mighty kicks the bull shook off #40 and sent her sailing through the air. She did a half spin and landed funny about 6 or 7 feet away but got up uninjured. Wolves are very hardy creatures that can endure a great deal of abuse when capturing their prey. Although #40 is strong it is just as well for her that she did not meet up with the bull's hoof. The business end of ungulate's legs are dangerous weapons as a few unfortunate wolves (and unsuspecting tourists) have found out.

Once the bull changed tactics and stood his ground his defensive situation improved greatly. The wolves had no opportunities for an attack even though the pack continued to harass the bull for another few minutes. However, every time a wolf would come close the elk would face him. Attacking from the backside was useless as that would open up the offending wolf to a brutal hoof-stomping. The alphas and #42F quickly disengaged and continued their travel North, crossing the Road about 300 meters to our East. For a few minutes longer the two pups challenged the elk but the elk was safe at that point as the pups presented no real threat. For the pups this opportunity may have been more of an exercise in learning the behavior of their prey. Both the pups and the two sisters, #103F and #105F, crossed the road and followed the adults up towards Druid Peak. Roughly 15 minutes after the wolves left the bull elk began his own travels and moved East a bit and then he too crossed the road and moved North.

This bull elk had been tested and he passed. The Druids will go hungry for a couple of hours at least, until the find an elk that doesn't' pass the test.

We weren't able to find the wolves after they had crossed the road. After searching for a bit we turned our interest to the point were the wolves had crossed the road. We found the location were #21M had left his mark and also found a plethora of paw prints. The snow wasn't the best for plaster-casting and we didn't have a can of the spray-on wax substance used to retain the shape of the track in snow, but the plaster cast I made of a wolf print was nice enough. As the day ended, the clouds broke open enough to turn the sky over Specimen Ridge a bright crimson. As the sun set in the West and the light faded, the pastel colors of dusk left an imprint of its own.