Greybull Pack, a New Wyoming wolf pack

Nov. 19, 2001

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About a week ago, I learned there was probably a new wolf park in the Greybull River area of Western Wyoming between the small town of Meeteetse and the front range of the Absaroka.  There had been rumors of wolves on the backside of Carter Mountain since last winter.

Now USFWS has confirmed that 5-6 wolves are in the area. There have been numerous sightings and also some photographs of the wolves. All the wolves are believed to be uncollared.

Meeteetse (pop. 350) is about 30 miles south of Cody.

Carter Mountain is a lofty an long thumb of the Absaroka Range the rises abruptly from the South Fork of the Shoshone Valley on its west, but rises more gradually from the Greybull on its east. It has many summits over 12,000 feet elevation. Carter Mountain gradually decreases in height to its terminus about 10 miles south of Cody, where it is still over 10,000 ft.

The mountain is covered with many pinnacles, cliffs and buttresses. Oddly, its east-facing slope from Pickett Creek northward has almost no trees. One can climb from prairie to tundra and not pass through a zone of trees.

The bulk of the Absaroka Range also rises to the south of Meeteetse, and there are miles of lower elevation badlands to the east and southeast of Meeteetse. The Greybull River has, in recent years, become a place where grizzly bears walk out onto the prairie. One of the biggest griz in Wyoming on record was shot in Meeteetse Creek a year ago after consuming too many cattle over the years.

The vast expanse of Carter Mountain from a cliff on Phelps Mountain.
                                       Copyright © Ralph Maughan