We weren’t the only ones who heard the wolves last night.  There is lots of excitement around Old Faithful geyser basin.  Howling and tracks confirm there are wolves here and it is extremely rare for them to be in this section of the park.  Rangers and guides have been out tracking and in search of a kill site that might explain why they are here.  Today we join in.  We are set to go snow shoeing around the thermal features with a guide, Berlin, but the route expands to cover some of the area with signs of wolf traffic.  We find lots of tracks in the snow, some muddy tracks on the boardwalks and even a bit of scat.  It is a great adventure.  Our walk includes a geyser of course, Solitary Geyser, and we make it to Observation Point with a great view of the basin.  Our inexperience at snow shoeing and 7300+ft elevation combine to keep us breathing pretty deeply but it is a great trip.

Our afternoon thermal feature trip turns into a bit of a Wolf quest too and it pays off.  Check out this picture of wolf butt Kent got.  The wolf trotted right along the road then off across the meadow and out of sight.  It is magical to see them move.  We are anxious for another look so move along the roadway and pull offs stopping and straining to catch another glimpse.  After a particularly raw, windy stop at Flood Geyser results in no further sightings, we end our wolf quest for now.  We close out our afternoon excursion with a geyser walk at Biscuit Basin.  It has been a spectacular day so far.

There is dinner, bison short ribs and braised lamb, but the day isn’t done.

It is 6:45PM and we load up for a night time excursion to the Fountain Paint pots.  Enroute two wolves come toward us tracking first down middle of the road then right past along-side the coach.  We got a great look at those magnificent creatures just doing their thing.  Fantastic.

Steam and stars and soundscapes.  What a different world this is in the dark.  Glurgles, spitters, hisses and smells fill in what the eye can’t register.  We get some snow.  We close the walk with a cup of hot chocolate, thanks John, and a few minutes of silence, great idea John, under the dark sky.  Almost as if they were waiting for us to be quiet, wolves begin their chorus.  That sounds seems to create more of a connection than even seeing them and it hits home just how amazing it is that we are actually sharing this part of the earth with them.  What a perfect way to end the day.