Walnut Creek

At 3000 CFS the tubes AKA Amarijuanica falls get BIG. Creek boat is a must, Frank took a playboat at 3000 and was fine until here. Had about a 2 or 3 minute recirc in the hole before he dove down and got washed out. It is very deep there so diving down is not sketchy, probably your only way out really. Make sure you take the left tube when its high, 3 ft ish off the left wall and get a good boof! Its a slide boof too, trickiest of all boofs. The second biggest hole on the run is right downstream of the pool after the tubes, hemlock hole. Stay center or even right, definitely not left. Its really four holes on either side of the creek right in front of each other with a break in the middle. The two in the back that are hidden by the front ones are far worse with the second sets left hole being the worst. This feature has changed the most over the past few years of anything on this run.

Frank running the main line on Michael Falls.

Marijuanica Falls at a typical runnable level.

This is the first descent of Walnut in a raft to my knowledge. Jonathan Janicki taking on Michael Falls R1 in a 4-man bucket boat.

Ted making through 50/50 after Michael Falls. The right side of Michael Falls behind Ted is really nasty.

Frank surfing what is likely the best large surfing hole on Walnut, Bear Trap. Excellent boat control; despite the name, Bear Trap is not exactly a sticky hole.

I recommend taking the left tube still, but most of the metal is gone on the right tube and some people go that way now.

Thank God for all that guide training in a raft, you can actually have a lot of fun with them! Jonathan Janicki practices the delicate balancing act of surfing a 4-man bucket boat. This photo is probably from above the reccomended put in. There's quite a few nice waves if you put in at Old Sterrettania.

'Had to swim across to his boat so we talked him into throwing his paddle. He didn't make the throw and lost the paddle only to be found on the PI at Gull Point by someone who found his number on it and called him!— at Bear Creek confluence surf hole.' Ted Engelhardt

Surf spot at bear creek confluence. 1200-1400 cfs is the best surfing level on this creek. Some things wash out above that and other places get to big or squirly. You can still take a playboat safely at a little over 2000, just might not be worth it. 3000 you want a creeker for sure. Only creek in town with a USGS gauge so needless to say its been done A LOT.

Alden ripping it up on bear trap. This feature has changed a lot in the past few years, unfortunately squirlier and harder to surf. Little piddly's still amazing and one the best surf spots in town. Think our hole to wave ratio in Erie is about a 4 to 1 hahaha. Appx. 1200 cfs from looking at it, can't remember what the gauge read that many years ago.

This is what 50/50 looks like at low runnable levels. On this particular day I only ran the last half mile or so because the water wasn't very high. This section is still good when the rest of the run is too low. You can see from this picture how 50/50 funnels together. If you get stuck in it, it's very hard to get out of it right side up. It's not too rough at this level, but look out in high water!
View of 50/50 from below. The surf wave below 50/50 is really good in low water.
Here's a nice close-up of Devil's Advocate Hole.

This map of Walnut Creek is from www.topozone.com and altered by Jonathan Janicki.

This is the approach to the tunnels. If you don't remember anything else about this run, remember this, TAKE THE LEFT TUNNEL!

This is the rapid known as Hemlock Hole at very low water. Notice it doesn't look like anything at all. At 1 ft on the Brandy Run guage there is a huge hole on the river right.
See why you don't want to take the right tunnel? The left side is easy at low water, but watch out for a big keeper hole at levels above 1.3 ft.

This pic was taken from just downstream of 50/50 Hole.