Fishing first: It was COLD today. The east entrance to Yellowstone was closed this morning due to snow. What a way to send off August. We hiked in to the first meadow on Slough Creek and it was about 48 when we left for Slough and maybe 50 when we returned. Blustery and gray and intermittent rain. Absolutely nothing was going on in the way of hatches. Tons of smallish #12 or so lethargic hoppers in the grass. We found one pool loaded with fish and did not see another fish in any other spot. The warmer weather to come could change things for the better. Soda Butte, however is fishing well.

I finished up my guide trip up Slough around 3 or so and headed for Dunraven Pass and the Hayden Valley. I made some coffee on top of Chittenden Rd. in strong winds and snow showers at about 9,000 feet. I hit the road to look for grizzlies in the Hayden Valley and maybe the Canyon Pack.

I stopped not far beyond where Alum Cr. meets the Yellowstone and took a short walk and ran into a very interesting wolf researcher. I learned a lot from him in a short period of time including where the Canyon pack rendezvous point is which was only a couple hundred yards from where I was and within clear view. Not long after he left I watched five nervous elk run across the meadow in front of me and into the Yellowstone River where they stood and waited and watched over the timber line they had just come from. After about a half an hour of watching the eIk I saw a beautiful gray wolf trot out from the timber line and onto the meadow in front of me. The elk were clearly aware of it's presence. Five minutes later a black wolf and two pups came out from the timber and essentially traced the same route the first gray wolf took. Ten or so minutes later another black wolf appeared and took the same route as well. I watched the five of them meet up and play for about an hour or so.
After leaving the Canyon pack I took off to scout out a fishing spot on the Yellowstone and came across a large grizzly. I was able to capture some images of it due to it's close proximity to me. I also saw another grizzly earlier today from a distance through my binos on the Lamar River. What a day!
Above are more iPhone images from today...