Team JK member, Phil Boyer has an epic trip on Fantasy Falls, CA. by Will Richardson | Jul 16, 2006 | Whitewater | 0 comments July 16, 2006 By Phil Boyer. Learn more about Phil. Hey there E.J. I hope that this story finds you while you are having fun on a river somewhere. Life is just Fantasy Falls. Spring time in the California Sierras offers some of the best boating in the world and when the lower elevation runs start to dry up we then head up into the high Sierras where the multi day runs begin. I just had the opportunity to kayak the Fantasy Falls run on the North Fork Mokulumne with Justin Patt. The run begins at 7500 feet in elevation in Hermit Valley along highway 4 in the middle of the Mokulumne Wilderness. The terrain here is very rugged and one would not want to have to hike out. The river is surrounded by tall pine trees growing out of granite walls and domes which rise high above the river reaching for the blue skies. Justin and I were blessed with warm weather, clear skies and three days of kayaking ahead of us so we couldn’t ask for any thing more. We got to the put in a little late in the year for this run but there was still water in the river so off we went. The first few miles were a bit low and rocky but with several side creeks coming in the river cleaned up a bit and made for some fun rapids. Justin and I were making pretty good time since it was just the two of us paddling on this trip and we found ourselves being able to do quite a bit of reading and running until we got into the gorges. There are several distinct gorges during the first day with some great rapids; however, at the flow we had one must watch out for the numerous piton rocks and the wood that is in the river. We found some of the rapids that would have been runnable we had to portage due to trees in either the entry or the exit of the rapids but the portaging was for the most part easy and at water level. We spent about seven hours kayaking the first day until we found our home for the evening just off of the river nestled among the pine trees and granite domes. The evening was spectacular with the full moon lighting up the canyon and knowing that we were the only ones around. Day two started out with a mellow paddle through the tree lined river until we got into the first of two gorges which are portaged on river left around the granite domes. We did scout both gorges on river right and came to the conclusion that if one does decide to run the gorges they will be running everything with no opportunities to get out for either portaging or scouting and a rescue is not really an option. We also found that at the water flow we had some of the drops would have been great but then the next drop was boulder choked with sieves or wood or both so we made the prudent choice and portaged both gorges. After a nice lunch we then continued down stream to the drops that this run is named for, Fantasy Falls. Fantasy Falls is a 36 foot waterfall which drops into a beautiful pool that flows out into another 15 foot waterfall. Both of these falls are runnable at any flow and are both super fun. Both Justin and I had a great time running these drops and if it was not for our boats being loaded down with gear we would have run them multiple times. After the falls there is alot of fun class four five read and run with a scout thrown in here and there for safety purposes until you reach a very long runnable slide. We ran the slide down the middle line for the top section and down the left lin for the bottom section which is the best part. After heading the slide on the left it drops into some super fun rooster tail style waves which send you straight into a small chute that has a granite wall on the left and a curtain of water falling off of the rock wall on the right all the while you are heading into the hole which sends you off to the right and down the next sliding falls to the bottom of the drop. This is a very long and fun rapid just what one looks for in these higher elevation runs. We found camp down stream from here a little ways on river right which was on a nice granite slab. Justin and I were talking about how far along the trip we were and wondering how long we would be on the water tomorrow. Justin thought we might have a big day but I thought we might be farther along then he thought so from camp I hiked up to a granite dome to take a look downstream and there it was, Salt Springs Reservoir. The evening was warm and clear with the stars coming out and the moon bright. I stayed awake just watching the sky for awhile until finally the lids got heavy and the dreams took over knowing that tomorrow would bring more kayaking and sunny weather. Justin and I awoke to another glorious day. We decided to get an early start of about eight a.m. so we would have no wind going across the Reservoir which is about five miles. It took us about forty five minutes to reach our final rapid which was a small slide ending in a six foot boof into the Reservoir, what a way to finish a run. The paddle across the reservoir. took us about and hour with no wind. I have a feeling that the paddle would take a bit longer in the afternoon with a head wind. After reaching our car we realized that we were probably the last ones to get on Fantasy Falls this year and that having this beautiful canyon all to ourselves was a very special treat. Phil B. Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. 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