2016 Wolf Expedition

"For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack."
==Rudyard Kipling

Few creatures evoke such strong emotions as the wolf.  Wolves are: beautiful, mysterious, elusive, intelligent, and widely misunderstood.

I love wolves.  So I created my own wolf expedition. The seeds of this expedition go back a few years to the last time I was in Yellowstone Park. Then, I saw almost all of the wildlife Yellowstone has to offer, except wolves. I decided I want to come back here again some time just for the wolves. In the meantime I did some research on the Yellowstone wolves. I found out the best time to see the wolves is in the winter, when they are the most active (due to less competition from hibernating bears). Wolves used to roam the area for thousands of years, before they were almost completely wiped out by man.  A program to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone was initiated in 1995 and almost immediately it had a huge (positive) impact on the park (for a more detailed explanation of how exactly the wolves helped, see this fantastic 5 minute documentary). This made it even more interesting to me and I wanted to see these wolves in particular. So I hired a wolf expert guide and set up a 4-day wolf expedition with just the two of us. We would track the various wolf packs around the park every day. My main goal is to try to obtain some good photos and video of the elusive wolves.

Preparation

There is deep snow right now in Yellowstone, and temperatures will be in the 20s (F). Having been to the high Arctic three times in the past six months, I already have the clothing covered. But the wolves are rather shy of humans (for good reason: many are shot and killed by ranchers who live outside the park), and they can be seen only from a distance. Therefore I know I will need a super-telephoto capability. A few days before before the trip I ordered a new lens.  This lens is so huge that it requires its own suitcase!

Humongous telephoto lens!

I am really excited about this trip!

[Anyone reading this blog?  Then please leave a comment below and let me know!]