Unit 229's Portfolio
Ellen & John
​
​
On our first visit to the Northern Region of Yellowstone National Park in December 2018 for wolf watching we
drove east into the Lamar Valley. We approached the Buffalo Ranch and noticed people with spotting scopes and
cameras on the low rise adjacent to the driveway to the ranch. After parking we joined the small gathering and asked
what they were looking at. A young man, tall and lean with a great smile, generously offered us a view through his scope.
It was my first viewing through a high powered spotting scope. There she was about a mile and half across the snow
covered Lamar Valley moving through his scope. Jeremy told us it was 1118F and about her injured right front leg.
​
As I watched her move through the deep snow I silently gasped. I could see detail in her fur, coloring,
and movement. The only thing lacking was the sound of her body pushing through the deep snow.
I felt as if I could touch her. She was athletic. She was huge. She was beautiful. She was wild. 1118F was
in deep snow and trying to jog yet she would stumble and nose dive into the snow. She would quickly
hop three or four times and pause and look around. Hop, hop, hop, pause and look. Up the Jasper slope
she continued. I thanked Jeremy for the viewing and insightful information. We left the area and I remember saying
to Ellen that 1118F would not make it through the YNP’s harsh winter. How could she survive alone and
with an injury to the right front leg? I'll never forget that first sighting. That was when she first touched
my heart and was in my mind's eye forever.
-John
​
1118F was still near and I hurried to get the lens on the camera and the camera on the tripod. I don't even
remember if I focused or had the camera on auto focus; it was that fast. As she hobbled away from me, I snapped
off a couple of pictures, hoping for the best. I used the tripod as a monopod, as I hadn't had time yet to set the
tripod legs. She made her way to the middle of a bison herd and stopped to rest, which gave me a moment to
get set up. By then, though, she was too far away and my best pictures came from the hurried moments at the start.
A few minutes in, I realized I'd left my gloves in the car, and it was below freezing. Touching the tripod, my hands
quickly grew painfully cold, and I shoved them into my pockets and watched through the camera lens as two
coyotes approached to harass the injured wolf. She stood her ground, looking unperturbed. Exhilarated, I was
nonetheless relieved when John radioed to ask if I was ready to be picked up.
Back in the car, we couldn't stop talking about how relieved and impressed we were that 1118F was still alive.
It was heartbreaking to see how she moved, awkward and painstakingly slow, having to rest every few steps.
I wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up. She was undeterred, it seemed, by the coyotes, so I
couldn't help but hope for her survival through the winter.
-Ellen
The next day was our last day in the park in our February 2019 visit so we got an early start. The car's ambient temperature
gauge read -22 degrees. When we arrived at Lower Hellroaring we encountered Jort and Jeremey at the bison carcass
a few yards off the road. We were told 1118F had just finished feeding. We searched for her and found her a short distance
from the carcass and hidden in a depression. We setup our scope and camera up the road and in the trees. She got up
and moved across the frozen snow field with the same three or four hops, pause, and look around. Her belly was full.
She eventually made her way down a ravine and we lost sight of her. I thought that was the end of seeing her for this
particular trip.
It was our second day in the park in February 2019 after an uneventful drive through the park to our rental in Cooke City
the day before. Complacently, I sat in the passenger's seat, enjoying the sights and being in the park again.
As we approached Tower Junction from the north, John exclaimed that he saw a wolf to the left. We realized as she
crossed the road less than 50 feet in front of us that it was 1118F, so John stopped and I jumped out to get to the
camera, lens and tripod from the case in the back of our Forester. My hands shook with excitement, as I had never seen
a wolf so close, and I was so unprepared! I should have had a camera in my lap for such unexpected encounters.
So as not to block the road, I ushered John onward while I sunk surprisingly deep into the snow bank on the edge of the road.
Soon she reappeared about a quarter mile away and she bedded on the frozen snow out in the open field.
It was bitter cold. As time went by the sun spread warmth over the frozen snow and 1118F seem to enjoy the sunlight.
Alone, she rolled on her back and kicked all four legs in the air as if she was a puppy. She seemed comfortable.
She seemed at peace.
A French tourist approached us and asked if she could look through our scope. After her eye adjusted she held her
breath and didn't move. She turned and looked at me with tears in her eyes and said simply,
”That’s my first wolf. Thank you."
After we returned home we would read the Yellowstone Wolf Reports every morning looking for updates on 1118F.
We didn't hear anything until I talked to Jeremy a few different times on different trips. Once he mentioned that she
had wandered up the Slough Creek and out of the park and then returned.
​
​
​
We finally heard of 1118F's mortality signal on September 12, 2019. I hope it was peaceful. Sadly she had no idea
how many people she inspired.
During the summer of 2019, we spent our summer in the Cook Islands and Ellen volunteered in one of the English
classes in a small school on the island of Aitutaki. One lesson was about identifying the protagonist and antagonist in
the short story they were reading. Ellen told the story of 1118F relating it to the lesson. Wolves were scary to
Cook Islanders. Not now. They inspire.
-John
Jose Cabrera
Please keep in mind that the picture was from far way and hence it was severely cropped. The picture was taken mid day with good lighting conditions. I stopped the same day at dusk and was very fortunate to see her at a closer distance approaching the carcass. It was an incredible and powerful moment to say the least.
Mark Perry
Mark Perry
-1588350593934.jpg)
Photo Date: 2/21/2019 Lower Hell Roaring Carcass
My time knowing 1118F was short but it has made an impression on me ever since. We all learned a lot from her. I will never forget her after the look she gave me on 2/21/2019 when I took this photo of her.
My Story:
I live in Bozeman, Montana. I am in YNP 80-100 times a year and wolves are a passion of mine. This wolf was special.
“I was in Lamar Valley in December 2018 and wolves were around a carcass pretty far out. I stopped to inquire what was going on. I approached the crowd with spotting scopes. The watchers informed me there were wolves on a carcass and one watcher remarked, “one of the wolves is limping badly”. They said they were told that it was “kicked “ by an elk . I looked through the scope and her upper right front leg was damaged. To me it wasn’t consistent with an elk kick. It was a well-defined wound (based on my medical background of 40+ years). I later spoke with someone from the wolf project and they told me “That’s 1118F. She was shot in the leg in Wyoming outside the park.” I am guessing elk kick cover story was more palatable to visitors than the reality of the shooting story. After that day, I continue to hear reports of this “limping wolf “ aka 1118F at carcasses in January. I did some research and learned about this natal pack, and the new Group she started. Watching her in a spotting scope, her right front leg was nonfunctional. It dawned on me that this beautiful creature was all alone in the Yellowstone wilderness, with only 3 functional legs, traveling miles a day in some cases, going carcass to carcass, just to survive. Think about that… Wow.
Then, in February 2019, a vehicle hit a bison in the road near lower Hell Roaring. The bison staggered and collapsed by the road and died. The rangers and others moved the bison from near the road to around 80 yards or so away from the road, allowing the park’s predators to feed on the carcass. I visited the carcass on February 18, 2019. There were no wolves seen on the carcass when I was there. I returned to the carcass on February 21, 2019. There was a large crowd of photographers. I asked “ what’s going on?” and a photographer replied, “there have been coyotes, a fox and look over there, there is a wolf lying down !”. I looked and sure enough there was a wolf. That wolf was 1118F.
I set up my tripod and long lens and waited. I photographed the coyotes. After a while, 1118F rose up from her bedded spot , she limped with determination past the carcass, and continued West, and then she turned and looked at me, as if to say, “Please remember me. I am 1118F ”. I took this photo of her. She limped out of sight…
I have remembered her ever since. I fell in love with this gray wolf. Her courage, determination, will to survive while not complaining, or giving up in the wild Yellowstone Wilderness impressed me. It was a Disney movie in the making.
Since that day, I never saw her again. Over the months of March-August 2019, every time I was in the Park, I would ask a member of the Wolf Project, “How’s 1118F ? ” The replies were “she is still going ”.
I thought “wow”, that’s amazing. I never expected her to survive the winter but she did and beyond.
Always thinking about her, I was in my hotel room in Denver on a business trip one night in September 2019. I facebooked messaged a friend who works for the YNP Wolf Project and asked, “How’s 1118F ?”….
the reply was quick and short … “She has passed away”.
My heart dropped. A teardrop fell onto my laptop. I said out loud, “ Oh, No…. God Bless her Heart”. Her journey was over. I knew the end would come eventually but I was rooting for her to make it as long as possible.
​
I was happy to hear she rests in peace inside Yellowstone National Park near the Lamar River where she should be and not on some hunter’s trophy wall. IMHO, “she won” in the end.
I have a 20x30 print of this image on my home gallery wall. I look at her every day and just marvel at her. She was a one of a kind wolf. I am glad I had a chance meet her in person. She changed my life. “
Mark Perry
Founder/Chief Enthusiast
National Photography Enthusiasts Group (NPEG) since 2008
TEACH, LEARN, SHARE and SOCALIZE
www.npegroupusa.org
www.bridgerpeaks.photos
Bozeman, Montana
406-600-1554
Jort
Jort the Yellowstone Guide
@yellowstoneguide · Tour Guide