The next morning dawned sunny after the obligatory brief evening thunderstorm. The big bear was nowhere to be seen. We parted with the Californians and hiked over Mist Pass and then down through lodgepole pine into the magnificent Pelican Valley, a high elevation wonderland of grassland, sagebrush, wetland and meandering streams framed by the forested Absaroka Range to the east and the Mirror Plateau to the west. Bison by the hundreds dotted the entire valley. Mule deer plonked along. Across Pelican Creek Jesse spots a grizzly, nearly a mile away. We watch it through binoculars. Soon we see another griz, not quite as far, and then I spot yet another big bear, this one accompanied by two little brown dots that would rapidly grow into big brown bears, again at a very safe distance. It was becoming tough to rack up the miles, with so many things to see! That brought the trip grizzly count to six!
We hike. We hear some howls. We see a wolf just a couple of hundred yards ahead running along the stream bank. We turn to the right and spot a three more wolves below a cut slope of bare dirt above Pelican Creek. Wow! I try to herd our group along, as this last trip day covers 11 miles, but we must give this menagerie of large carnivores its due. Oh well, we’ll get to the trailhead soon enough! And just when it seems like our wildlife viewing luck has to come to an end, we round a corner on the grassy bench above Pelican Creek, turn around and see that the wolves were now in a cohesive pack of 7 gray and black canines, all resting together in the grass next to the creek, about a half mile behind us. We stop for lunch under some lodgepole pine and Douglas-fir and watch the big dogs as we wolf down cheese, crackers, peanut butter and Jelly plus some dried fruit so that we are adequately energized for the final 3 or 4 miles.
What a day! What a trip! In 40 years of guiding Yellowstone backpacking treks, I don’t think I’ve ever had such a week for wildlife viewing, especially for large carnivores. Add to the animals the beautiful wide open Lamar and Pelican Valleys plus the rich forested upper Lamar Valley, all in a true wilderness setting, and I am reminded with an exclamation as to why I long ago chose to start a guide service as an alternative to my part time youthful job as a bar bouncer in Jackson, Wyoming. Long live the wild griz and howl of the wolf!
