LOWMAN, Idaho — For almost the entire month of February, snow has piled up in Idaho's mountain communities.
Wednesday morning's winter weather made for dangerous road conditions and avalanche concerns, prompting two sections of Highway 21 to shut down, leaving only one road open in and out of Lowman.
"This month has been horrible because we have gotten so much snow in a short time," said Lowman resident Frank Novatsky.
Novatsky moved from sunny Florida to Lowman, Idaho, two years ago.
He quickly learned that living in the small mountain town during winter sometimes means not being able to get out.
"Most of us tend to have food stored up just in case," Novatsky said. "When we get a lot of snow in a short time, or if it’s really wet snow, they tend to shut down the road to Stanley because of avalanche danger."
The road from Lowman to Garden Valley remained open Wednesday but posed some dangers of its own.
"We go to Garden Valley quite often," Novatsky said. "The problem driving there is not so much the snow but the rock falls. There are times when the road has been closed for several hours, very rarely is it shut down for more than a few hours."
It was a similar scene in Stanley where at one point Wednesday morning all three routes in and out of town were blocked.
Highway 75 from Challis to Stanley reopened later in the day.
"This hasn't just happened the last couple of years, it's kind of the norm up here for Stanley, it's crazy," said Johnny Ray Kurch, the owner of Rod N Gun Saloon in Stanley.
Kurch has owned the saloon since 1971.
He says being snowed in is nothing new.
"Highway 21 up toward Boise, that will get shut down and about eight avalanche chutes every year, they prove the same they just got to shove them out," Kurch said. "ITD takes really good care of it if they can but when there is an avalanche there is not a whole lot you can do except wait for the foreman to blow them down."
While highway closures do impact the people who live in these mountain communities during the winter, residents are well-prepared for limited access in and out.
"If you are up here you know that you keep your wood handy and enough of it, and food, propane, we are pretty much prepared for now," Kurch said.