Escaping coronavirus on a bluebird day in the Highwoods

With South and Middle peaks in the background 

The North Peak saddle full of snow

Some shade with Big Baldy standing above all

The open North Fork Highwood Creek valley

This was a very last minute and late-in-the-day trip into the nearby Highwood Mountains.
I was easy prey for my friend Mark Hertenstein, who called and asked me along for this trip.  Against my better judgment to keep a "social distance," from him, we headed into the back country.  I had been isolating myself for the previous four days in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
This was as bluebird a day as I have ever seen; not a cloud in the deepest of blue sky, temperatures a crisp 20 degrees, and about a foot of fresh powder.
South, Middle, North and Big Baldy peaks gleamed with the new snow.
Because we got such a late start we decided not to do any climbing, but stuck to the road that crosses this small mountain range from the nuclear missile silo on theArrow Creek road out of Geyser to near the Thain Creek ranger station.
There were no signs that anyone had done this trip, even snowmobiles, since the weekend's snow dump.
From the silo parking area we skied about 7 miles out and back along the road to the back side of Big Baldy and back, not stopping for any tele turns.
As the day progressed the radiant heat from the sun made the snow somewhat sticky, requiring a coat of glide wax on our skis.
The only other signs of creatures were numerous deer, elk and possibly moose tracks.
Even with the cold, we stripped down to our base layer shirts because of the sun.
I'm hoping I'll be able to get out for ski trips and hikes during this difficult period of isolation, but understand it'll probably be solo.

Other trips

In the past 10 days, before the big storm, I also reclimbed Priest Butte with friends and climbed Mount Helena.  Katie and I also spent some more time viewing the migrating snow geese and Tundra swans on Freezout Lake.  There we saw some seven bald eagles taking advantage of this moveable feast.

Our route