Our quest in Yellowstone has been to get photos of the most unusual animals found here.

That would be mountain goats, grizzlies, and wolves.

The grizzlies are everywhere…and nowhere. They pop out of the woods and cross the trail ahead of you. They prowl across a field heading toward a lodge. They lumber along the edge of the woods at the far side of a valley.

Oh, we found one…maybe half a mile away. Never came closer while he scouted a couple elk. Ended up heading into the woods. We could see his tracking collar.

Still looking for one a little bit closer.

The mountain goats hang out on the sides of a valley at the farthest part of the park from our coach. A 2-hour run out the northeast entrance to the park, so it’s not on the way to anything for us.

Ah, but we caught several on a sunny day! The closest was probably half a mile….

Notice the tiny white bundle on the ledge to the left of the parent!

Still looking for some a little bit closer!

The predictably unpredictable ones are the wolves. They live in packs…10 packs is the last count we’ve heard…that hang out in specific areas.

The largest hangs in Lamar Valley, and is seen most often around sunup or sundown and the two hours of daylight near those times.

Right…over near the NE entrance road and mountain goats…half a day’s journey to get there…hang until after sunset…half a night’s journey to get home.

We did it. Several times. Got lucky once…heard the howling…and got one shot.

This photo was with my 300mm 2.8, which weighs about 6 pounds. I was walking toward a group that had been watching all evening, when one said “There he is!”. I swung the camera around, aimed, and pulled the trigger. For you techies: ISO 3200, 1/80th at 2.8.

Gotta love that lens. Couldn’t really see the wolf, but the camera could. See him howling?

Not sure what he was howling about….