I had the most enjoyable time in the park today with some folks on a Yellowstone Association program. We met at Roosevelt Lodge then departed for Lamar Valley around 6:30 AM. Wolf viewing was slim to nil so we made a few stops to watch pronghorn antelope bison and a black bear along the south side of the Valley. We soon got a tip from another guide that there had been a grizzly around the confluence of Lamar River and Soda Butte Creek. Though not visible when we arrived, the bear was certainly in the area, so endeavored to wait it out. After climbing up on the bluff overlooking the river we took in the morning scenery-bright sun clear skies and a fair amount of greenery for this time of the year. We saw coyotes sandhill cranes and a light colored grizzly all the way across the Lamar Valley moving along the tree line. And just as soon as we finished watching that bear along Soda Butte Creek popped out of the willows. Its main motivation, it seemed, was to leave its shady bed in the shrubs and take a cooling bath in the creek water. This it did, lounging about and submerging itself up to its shoulders and neck before leaving to graze on some grasses and disappear into the willows again. We took a quick trip up to Baronett peak and spotted a nanny mountain goat in her kid. The mother was fully in her sleek, white summer coat and stood out clearly against the green patch of vegetation where they fed… Once you knew where to look… After lunch we took a quick hike up to a small lake and were greeted with views of six different otters-all frolicking and fishing along the lake shore. They looked like sleek brown porpoises as they follow each other in a line swimming parallel to the shore line-breaking the water surface to breathe, and with arched backs, diving back down, and then up again.