Photo by Brad DyeBeautiful Fall Creek Falls along the Snake River near Swan Valley, ID.  

“There is just one moon, and one golden sun, and a smile means friendship to ev’ryone. Though the mountains divide and the oceans are wide, It’s a small world after all.”

It has never been my favorite ride at Disney World. It didn’t have the thrills of Space Mountain or, for a nerdy sci-fi loving kid, hold the imaginative escape of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. In fact, if I’m honest, “It’s a Small World” has always seemed somewhat creepy to me in a dolls-in-a-horror-movie kind of way.

However, with that said, the message that the ride conveys through the words of the song by Richard and Roger Sherman is beautiful: “There’s so much that we share, that it’s time we’re aware, it’s a small world after all.”

So, what does “It’s a Small World” have to do with the outdoors in general and fly fishing in Idaho in particular? Simply this, it seems as though every time that I travel, I am reminded of the realities expressed in the tune.

I am by no stretch of the imagination a world traveler, and the stickers on my suitcase and Yeti cooler are probably limited compared to the adventures of many of you reading this column. However, I have always loved (and appreciated) traveling and a recent trip to Idaho provided a beautiful reminder of why that is.

Memorial Day weekend, I headed out with my son Dan, my brother Michael Van Veckhoven, and my nephew Billy to the Lodge at Palisades Creek in Irwin, ID, for several days of drift boat fly fishing on the Snake River.

After checking in at the fly shop upon arrival, we made our way to our cabin, the “A-Frame,” which was situated at the confluence of the Snake River and Palisades Creek. The cabin’s back deck overhung the Snake and our bedroom windows directly faced the creek, which meant that our open windows would provide the natural “sound machine” music of the flowing creek to fall asleep to each night of our stay.

Aside from the first class trout fishing on the Snake and our amazing cabin on the river, one of the highlights of our Lodge at Palisades Creek experience was the dining. Breakfast, shore lunch, and dinner were provided each day and each meal featured some of the finest table fare that I have ever eaten.

During the first day of fishing, our guide mentioned over lunch that one of the staff members at the lodge was from Mississippi and over a dinner of bison short ribs the next evening, we met fellow Mississippian Charles Ellsworth.

Charles hails from Winona, MS, and as always seems to be the case, in no time we had traced a connection to mutual friends. It turns out that Charles grew up in the same church as my priest, Father Walton Jones. In fact, they were in youth group together. This proved to be just the first reminder of what a small world we inhabit.

The next day we fished a section of the Snake that included the beautiful Fall Creek Falls. We caught several nice trout while fishing at the base of the waterfall and paused throughout our fishing to take pictures of the scenic cascades above us. Throughout our time fishing there, I watched hikers come and go on the trails overhead that led to the edge of the falls.

Before we left for home, I posted a few of the pics from the trip to my social media and, later that week, I received a text with a pic from my friend Caleb Bryson from Labadie, MO. Caleb and I work for the same company and met in a new-hire training class. Caleb raises champion German shorthaired pointers and our GSP Moose came from his kennel. The picture that he sent was a selfie of him and his wife Laurie standing atop Fall Creek Falls.

While we were in Irwin, he and his family were vacationing a short 30 minutes away in Victor, ID, and they had driven down to hike to the falls. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the Brysons had been among the hikers taking photos above while we fished below. What are the odds? Again, I was reminded that it’s a small world!

I can’t recommend Idaho and The Lodge at Palisades Creek highly enough. The people were friendly and laid back and the fly fishing was amazing, with browns, rainbows, cutthroat, and cutbow hybrids. The guides felt like family and were among the best and most knowledgeable that I’ve ever had the pleasure to fish with and the staff, lodging, and food were all five star in my estimation.

There’s a reason the lodge is a multi-year winner of the coveted Orvis “Lodge of the Year” award and, for me, it comes down to the people. People like Charles and our guides Chase and Cruz are what make the wonderful places that we travel truly remarkable. Writer Edith Wharton said it best, “One of the great things about travel is you find out how many good, kind people there are.”

Here’s to wonderful destinations, to the kind people that make our small world special, and here’s to seeing you out there in our great outdoors.

Email outdoors columnist Brad Dye at braddye@comcast.net.