Our final full day in Yellowstone we spent entirely on the northern stretch. We planned on being up at 5 am to get in early, but when the alarm went off, we moaned and decided to keep sleeping. We ended up waking around 7:30 and headed off at 9 am. We arrived in Tower about 10:30 to immediately see two black bears; one on the east slope, the other just a few yards south on the west slope. As we drove by in the truck, the male to the east stopped and gave us the evil eye. After taking several pictures of both, we headed out to Lamar Valley. Just around the corner, less than 2 miles away was another black bear! We were the first to spot her, and were so excited to get some 'alone' time before the crazy crowds showed up. We thought we were in for a great day, as we spotted 3 black bears in less than 10 minutes. But alas, we saw no more bears in the northern end. We did see a couple coyotes, but that was it. How disappointing. We finally gave up about 7 pm and made our way to West Yellowstone. Just past the Sheepeater Cliffs, we spotted what I thought was another coyote, then I realized, it was a WOLF! He was gargantuan compared to a coyote, and didn't have the pointy ears. And his paws were massive. We hurriedly pulled off the road and got a few pictures. The crowd that began to collect was ridiculous, and the wolf ran off south towards a closed campground. We were already in the truck, and so hurried to head him off and see if we couldn't get more pictures. We didn't as he had already circled around. While we waited, an elderly gentleman told us about a grizzly bear that was further south. We headed off, as we were craving more wildlife sightings. This grizzly was hanging out in the meadow, nursing a hurt paw from a porcupine encounter. We then slowly headed to the hotel. No more wildlife was seen, but we were finally satisfied with our day.
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