My class was also a wolf class. Turned out to be a small group of students. Four were originally enrolled (I think that's the minimum before cancellation), then two left after getting here. Unfortunately they had some health issues, and had to leave. So more like a private tour than a class. The two instructors Nathan Varley and Linda Thurston, the assistant (Me) and two students. That's some teacher - student ratio. Nathan and Linda are on the right and students Karen and Lisa on the left.
The class included wolf watching, information on the latest happenings with wolves in the Yellowstone vicinity and a meeting with a local rancher to get a rancher's perspective on wolves. We did see wolves from two wolf packs, and bighorn sheep. This was all through scopes, though you could see the sheep with your naked eye up along the ridge line. There were three or four rams interested in a young ewe. Seemed a little late for that sort of activity. Comical as one ram followed the ewe around, and then had to ward off several other potential suitors. No head butting. Just chase one away, then run back to the ewe to deal with the next ram who moved in while he was chasing the other one.
Below are pictures of the ranch we visited in Paradise Valley. You can see there is not much snow in a lot of Montana except for the mountains - El Nino.
Class went well. I didn't crash the bus which was my main worry. This was the one year anniversary of this very class going for an unscheduled ride off the road down into the Lamar Canyon. Amazing that no one got seriously injured. Nathan and Linda were great fun, knowledgeable, and were easy to work with for my first class. They have a few other classes here this winter, including two through their own wildlife touring business (www.wolftracker.com). Those classes are catered so we are also looking forward to the good food.
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