BY KAREN BOSSICK

Anyone driving Highway 75 over Galena Summit between Galena Lodge and Smiley Creek cannot help but be awestruck by the giant walls of snow lining the highway. We haven’t had snow walls like that for a long time!

Now, the Idaho Transportation Department is publishing pictures of the work its crews did over 31 straight hours to clear the highway after an avalanche struck it on March 15. Department officials said the snow was 20 feet deep in some areas.

The effort was so monumental that the department launched a company-wide photo contest to tell the story.

Dakota, whose picture won the contest, said his favorite part of working for Idaho Transportation Department is snow removal. And he got it those 31 hours!

Finally, it looks like we’re headed for a warmup, although you sure couldn’t have told it given Thursday’s 7-degree start to the day.

Stanley is forecast to top out at 43 degrees today, 44 on Saturday and, 52 on Sunday and 57 on Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Pocatello. Sun Valley, however will be cooler with a high of 33 today, 37 on Saturday, 44 on Sunday and 48 on Monday. The only day the low is forecast to exceed freezing is Monday with a low of 33.

The area around Galena Summit continues to have dangerous avalanche conditions. Conditions are more moderate in the Wood River Valley and Soldier Mountains.

Avalanche forecaster Chris Lundy will serve up the Sawtooth Avalanche Center’s last snow talk of the season at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, at The Elephant’s Perch. The topic: “Luck: The Four-Letter Word of Decision Making.”