Idaho mother encourages others to ‘feel the joy’ of nature in memory of kayaker son

STANLEY — Even as a kid, Scott Robbins was wise beyond his years.

During a family trip to Alaska when Scott was 12, he suddenly looked over at his mom and said something she would never forget.

“We were lying in bed and snuggling, and he’s like, ‘I’m a little worried, mom.’ And I’m like ‘Why?’” said Scott’s mother, Stephanie Robbins. “And he said, ‘My life is so good, and I’m so lucky, that I just don’t know that it can get any better than this.'”

Stephanie says this was not unlike Scott, who rejoiced in his passions and gratitude for everything he had, while making sure everyone around him felt the same way.

“He just loved, loved, loved life,” Stephanie said. “He was an amazing friend. … I have all these people telling me, ‘He made me feel seen, he just listened.’ He would just be there for people.”

Growing up in Star, Scott and his sister, Kate, were often outside taking advantage of everything the nearby nature had to offer.

“We’re an outdoor family; they were raised outdoors and offline,” says Stephanie. “He just loved the outdoors. He had more hobbies than I think anyone could possibly have. I’m a backpacker and a rock climber, and my husband is a hunter and a fisherman … and (Scott) took everything we did to the next level. He snowboarded — but he didn’t just snowboard, he backcountry snowboarded.”

Over Christmas, Scott and two of his friends traveled to Japan with one goal: to ski on a volcano.

“He booked everything, and it was just shocking me too, because he just turned 21 in April,” Stephanie said. “He didn’t even ask for my help to book the flight or anything. I was like, ‘We could’ve used points, but I’m so proud of you!’ He was just the guy who was the leader in charge.”

In May 2025, Scott even traveled to the Swiss Alps to solo dhike, documenting and photographing his adventures for his family and friends and sharing them on his social media pages.

“You just couldn’t not love him. He just loved life so much, even just for 21 years,” Stephanie said. “He put so much into those 21 years, and he loved it so much.”

When Scott was younger, he went on a Boy Scout rafting trip with Adventure Idaho and fell in love with the river.

“He loved it, like, that was it. He was hooked. And it was crazy, because when he was little, he was crazy cautious,” Stephanie said. “I don’t know what happened, but he just got the adrenaline bug and the adventure bug.”

Scott stayed in contact with the owner of Adventure Idaho, and when he turned 18, he decided to interview for a rafting guide position on the Salmon and Snake Rivers.

The process and training are extensive, says Stephanie, to guide people down the river. In true Scott fashion, during his interview, he told the owner a true story about almost being attacked by a bear.

“He told this story about how he went backpacking in the Tetons and he encountered a bear. Thank goodness he had a mom who sent him with bear spray and bells all over his backpack,” Stephanie said. “He sprayed the bear, and the interviewer was like, ‘What did you do next?’ and Scott said, ‘…I left?”

Needless to say, he got the job. In fact, he made such an impression that the Adventure Idaho website even listed Scott as “a bear’s worst nightmare.”

According to Stephanie, Adventure Idaho was where Scott found “his people.”

“His friends (there) wanted to do the same stuff he wanted to do,” she said. “That’s where he learned to raft, but also learned how to kayak. And he was a really good kayaker.”

After spending over a month undergoing extensive, all-day training to learn how to guide people down the river, perform CPR and use emergency techniques, Scott began living his dream, working as a guide and surrounded by friends, old and new, during the summers of 2024 and 2025. During the rest of the year, he studied finance and marketing at Idaho State University.

“He was just happiest outdoors,” Stephanie said, “just every weekend, he was outside. Literally, it didn’t matter if it was raining, or snowing or what the weather was. It was year-round.”

On May 5, Scott, along with eight of his best friends — most of whom were also rafting guides — decided to go on a rafting trip down Marsh Creek near Stanley.

According to Stephanie, the group started down the creek and made it past the rapids, where the rest of the trip would usually be smooth sailing. But suddenly, Scott experienced an equipment malfunction.

“He was actually past the hard part. It was a class 2 or 3 for kayakers — like, it wasn’t some crazy thing,” Stephanie explained. “He wasn’t even in the rapids when he realized his skirt had imploded.”

A kayaking skirt, or a spray skirt, is a waterproof cover worn around a kayaker’s waist that attaches to the rim of the kayak, to prevent water from entering the boat, and allows for rolling over after a capsize.

“He was on his way to the side of the river to get to the bank, to dump the kayak out of the water to fix it, and it just kept filling with water, and it tipped him,” Stephanie says. “His life jacket got stuck on a log, and they couldn’t get him out.”

His friends quickly realized that Scott was stuck and not moving. After trying everything they could, they realized they could not move the log he was stuck under and immediately called 911.

According to the Custer County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were notified around 7:49 p.m. by the Valley County Sheriff’s Office that they had received texts to 911 about a kayaker stuck under logs on Marsh Creek.

An Air St. Luke’s medical helicopter was dispatched from Wood River but was unable to land on scene due to the terrain.

Some of the guides got out of the river to go look for help, eventually running into a group of backpackers who happened to be EMTs.

While waiting for first responders, the EMTs were able to saw the log that was keeping Scott underwater and pull him out, performing CPR on him for three hours.

“The helicopter couldn’t land because they were in such an isolated place, so the National Guard got called in. The National Guard got him to a place where the helicopter could take him, but it was too late,” Stephanie said. “On the one hand, he had every chance, you know? But the river took him instead.”

The National Guard reached Scott around 3 a.m. and took him to an ambulance at the Boundary Creek parking lot, but Scott did not survive.

RELATED | Man dies after becoming trapped under logs in Marsh Creek near Stanley

According to Stephanie, first responders believe Scott hit his head when the kayak flipped him, rendering him unconscious from the beginning.

The rest of the young guides were forced to stay on the bank of the river due to the terrain and recommendations from the sheriff’s office to not try to raft to their destination to leave, due to the trauma they’d experienced and an increased risk of accident because of it.

The rest of the kayakers were rescued from the area the following morning.

“I was there when they did that, because I just couldn’t breathe until I knew all the kids were safe,” Stephanie said.

After his death, hordes of people began posting photos and tributes to Scott online, remembering him for his kindness, resourcefulness and love for the outdoors.

On May 9, Adventure Idaho posted a tribute to Scott, eulogizing him as someone who “was trusted deeply, took care of people, and took his role seriously.”

“If you knew Scott, you probably heard him before you saw him,” the post states. “He was the guy sprinting toward the camera, yelling something ridiculous through a megaphone, turning strangers into friends, and making every trip more alive.”

Since the tragic accident, Stephanie says the Robbins family has been focusing on the highlights of Scott’s life and encouraging people to get outdoors in Scott’s honor.

“If people want to honor him, or if they hear who he was, I want them to get outdoors,” she said. “I want them to feel the healing power and the joy you can get from nature.”

As for what she hopes people will remember about Scott, she says that over the last few weeks she has been consistently told by many of her son’s friends that they will always remember his inclusivity and unwavering kindness for others.

“Something that people have been telling me is just how he talked to everyone,” Stephanie said. “People who didn’t have the same beliefs as him, it didn’t matter. He saw and connected with everyone. I want (people) to remember that level of kindness and that level of passion that he had for life.”

The Robbins family is asking the community to donate to the Custer County Sheriff’s Office at 130 9th St, Challis, ID 83226, in honor of Scott, for everything they and the other agencies did in response to the accident.

The family asks that if you are able to donate to the sheriff’s office, please include a note indicating that the donation is in honor of Scott Robbins.