Words and Images by Conway Bowman
Stanley, Idaho has always held a special place in my heart.
It’s the place where I learned how to fly fish starting in the early 70s when I would travel with my father to the Redfish Lake Lodge. It was there that we would spend the summer fly fishing the Salmon River, Valley Creek and the occasional day trip to Silver Creek.
It was fitting that my family and I planned a trip to Stanley this summer to escape the crowded Southern California beaches and venture into the mountains where I spent endless hours with my father casting dry flies to trout on warm summer days. Though my wife, Michelle and two sons, Max and Jackson have traveled to many western states to fly fish they had never been to Idaho and I had only shared this special place with them in stories about my childhood.
In addition to showing my family where I spent my summers as a kid, the main reason for this trip was to spread my dad‘s ashes on the Salmon River at Lower Stanley and Valley Creek.
One of my father‘s last requests before passing on three years ago was to take some of his ashes and spread them in the Sawtooth Valley. This stretch of the Salmon River was a place where my father and I built so many wonderful memories and those memories have led me to a life of fly fishing - and a greater appreciation of the wonders of the outdoors.
We enjoyed day hikes to some high mountain lakes I remembered hiking to as a kid with my dad - and even hooked a few cutthroat trout.
Throughout our journey, we felt my dad’s spirit… everywhere.
Editor's Note: to learn more about Conway Bowman and other Riversmith Ambassadors CLICK HERE.
