Yellowstone and Wolves

Having enjoyed "Flight" by Barry Lopez in our Touchstone Anthology, I was pleased to learn that he wrote Of Wolves and Men so I took a copy with me on my trip to Yellowstone. Published in 1978, Lopez covers animal research, art, music, literature, Native American lore, politics, and history. I noticed that several other books on wolves cite this comprehensive early work of the author.

Every morning of this trip I awoke before sunrise, grabbed coffee and a pastry at Bearclaw Bakery in Cooke City, Montana, and drove down into Yellowstone's Lamar Valley. I looked for a yellow Nisson Xterra SUV parked at one of the pullouts. This was Rick McIntyre's vehicle. Working for the Yellowstone Wolf Project, Rick has logged over 3,000 consecutive days observing the park's wolves and has spotted the animals at least 95% of those days. Typically there are eight to twenty other cars following him around the valley. He is so popular with wolfers that when nature calls, several people follow him to the bathroom with binoculars and spotting scopes.

Among this migrating crowd of wolf lovers is Joellen Barton from Iowa. She and her husband drive their white Ford Expedition cross-country every spring and fall to spend a month observing wolves. The license plate reads, "DRUID42," the name and number of their favorite wolf--Druid pack wolf number 42. After comparing notes on wolf books with Joellen, I added the 2010 book Wolfer: A Memoir by Carter Niemeyer to my reading list. Niemeyer turned from trapper of to advocate for wolves.

During a trip back to Bozeman to pick up my wife and son, I stumbled upon Country Bookshelf bookstore and a few doors down, Vargo's Jazz City and Books. Before long I had a stack of books that would somehow have to fit in my luggage.

I found Tim Cahill's Lost in My Own Backyard. Cahill is an entertaining travel writer with titles like Jaguars Ripped My Flesh, Pecked to Death by Ducks, and A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg. He lives 50 miles north of Yellowstone and Backyard collects his essays on backwoods hiking in the park. "I've spent entire afternoons not knowing exactly where I was, which is to say, I was lost in my own backyard. This shouldn't happen if you stay on the major trails. But you may find yourself lost in thought, or in sheer astonishment. And here's the big idea for Americans: Yellowstone was the world's first national park. It was established, by an act of Congress, on March 1, 1872. The park was expressly put aside 'for the benfit and enjoyment of the people.' That makes Yellowstone Park America's backyard. Your backyard."