Nikki Kelly's Fantasy Falls Gallery

The second main trip of the 7 Rivers Expedition was the North Fork of the Mckolomne River. Otherwise known as the 'Fantasy Falls' run it is typically paddled in 3 days. The putin is located on higway 4, East of Bear Valley ski area, and just over the hill from Markleeville, a quaint sierra town with a kick ass sandwich shop and not much else.

We gambled big time and putin real early in the season. The snowpack in the headwaters is not supposed to look like this.

photo by Nikki Kelly

Nate Helms makes an AM run down the actual Fantasy Falls. There is an amazing campsite located below the falls on river right in a huge grove of pine trees. Best part about it you can walk up and run the falls again and again.

phot by Nikki Kelly

A portage on day two, we walked around three big gorges over the top of some huge granite domes.


Here is Tanya Faux on some big rapid somewhere in the day one zone.

photo by Nikki Kelly

John Grace running the twisting cataract that we all went into blind in 2002 (big carnage).

photo by Nikki Kelly

Fred avoiding a big hole.

photo by Nikki Kelly

This is the big slide that everyone gets beat in in the bottom. To me it appeared as if the Zambezi river was flowing down the side of a granite mountain.

photo by Nikki Kelly

Grace avoiding another big hole

photo by Nikki Kelly