| Snoqualmie, S. Fork — 1. Fall in the Wall (FITW)™ © |
Class IV-V
1Miles
Avg Gradient 360 fpm
Max Gradient 360 fpm
Play Rating (1-10): 2
River Mapplet
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GPS/GIS |
Maps |
| Put In Longitude : |
-121.42630 |
Putin |
| Put In Latitude : |
47.4277678 |
| Take Out Longitude : |
-121.43179 |
Take Out |
| Take Out Latitude : |
47.4258284 |
| County : |
King |
Shuttle
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Gauge Information (Professor Paddle updated levels from SF SNOQUALMIE RIVER AB ALICE at 4/30/2025 7:25:22 PM)
| Gauge |
Forecast |
Height |
Current Flow |
Authority |
Physical Update |
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SF SNOQUALMIE RIVER AB ALICE
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NWRFC | FC Page |
11.58 |
442 cfs
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USGS - NWIS |
2025-04-30 18:15:00 |
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Minimum Recomended Level: 220 cfs Maximum Recomended Level: 1000 cfs
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Putin DetailsDrive out I-90 and exit at Alpental. before you actually head up to alpental you can turn west and head down to franklin falls. Turn left (west) and head down. In winter this is snowed in and your hike begins here.
Head down to where the freeway crosses over the road. 100 yards down river is FITW Proper, a few hundred meters below this water fall is the beginning of the run. |
Takeout DetailsThe take out is usually after green room rapid which is really just 1/2 mile down the road from the put in at a pullout where the road leaves the creekside and eneters a thick forest. Most people take out here. Downstream there are two big slides ("Rootball" and "Lil Franky")immediately above Franklin Falls. Franklin Falls is quite huge and has a shallow landing. Do what you need to do to avoid running this thing accidently. Scout your locale. |
 River Alerts ( Add Alert ) |
Pinned Forum Threads |
 2 channel spinners between Franklin and double falls, one at the entrance. both at water level. No go - Posted by: chipmaney on 5/17/2014 1:58:00 PM -
[Remove Alert]
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Run DescriptionFITW is a NW classic. Close quality creekin is great and this run has it all. Slides, Falls, and bigger stuff down below.
The first drop on the run is Fall In the Wall Proper. This is a 20' waterfall that has a cave at the base and other nasties.
Just below FITW is a double undercut that is nasty. After the double undercut is a clean 8 foot ledge that has a little 3 foot ledge with a headwall below it. This is the standard put it location below the 3 foot ledge in the pool.
Prior to 2009 Most enjoyed a seal launch into the pool before reaching Larry's Ledge, A.K.A. Limbo Ledge. Recently this ledge got blown out and is a ledge no longer. Where you used to boof on the left is now an undercut sluice, and the right side, where the dangerous pin rock used to be, might be difficult to get to. Clearly the new line is in the center or toward the right, and this drop may require higher flows to run successfully. SCOUT. There is also a spanning log across the creek just below this drop. Most people are putting in bleow it now.
The leadin to fearsome foursome has a small ledge where the river kinks to the left as it drops over the lead in ledge. Boof and land on the boils, letting the current kick you back to the right and downstream...
Depending on how high the creek is flowing,and your skill level, you may or may not be able to eddy out here or anywhere throughout the Fearsome Foursome.
Drop One in the F.F. can be run Left or Right, the leftside probably being the most straightforward: as you drop down it you'll see a funky fan rock. It may take you a few laps to get this one dialed perfectly. It's a kicker that will either give you a foot or two of air time, or a smack on your bow if you piton it. The current pushes into a righthand headwall as it goes into the 2nd drop...
Drop Two in the F.F. is a little trickier. You'll see a diagonal hole at the very top kicking back to the right. You want to rail slide this and let it carry you a little to the right as you drop in. It only takes being a few inches off either way to be off line here, resulting in a few different outcomes. If you're too far right, you can get stuck in the hole at the bottom. You'll come out, but you may get hammered by your paddling partner who's bombing down right behind you before you do. If you're too far left, you follow most of the current. The problem with this is that it swiftly moves you through the tiny pool below and into the left side of the third drop WHERE YOU DON'T WANT TO BE. If this happens, angle your stern towards R.Right and back-ferry your boat over to the R.Right side to line up for the third drop. The whole creek is only about 10' wide through here.
Drop Three in the F.F. should be run right of center. Reread the last paragraph if you're new to creeking and/or this run: How you run Drop# 2 may greatly influence your ability to line up properly for Drop# 3. The top of Drop# 3 is pooled up in such a way as to allow you to back paddle if you need to line up better for the right hand side. You want to run the right through here over a bumpy slide, rather than taking the left route. THE LEFT HALF OF THE CREEK falls into a steeper, horseshoe shaped manky pocket. A few people have been banged up significantly at the bottom, and once I smacked my elbow pretty hard against the left wall, so DON'T FORGET YOUR ELBOW PADS!! It's better to make sure you are RIGHT at this drop. Below this drop you can eddy out on R.Right or R.Left, and there's a larger flowing pool than what you've encountered so far.
Things calm down here for Drop Four of the Fearsome Foursome. It's a broken ledge/slide configuration that can be run right, center or left. There are clean lines, manky lines and sticky lines, so be carefull who you follow.Below this drop is an even larger, slower moving pool, so if you see action up above, you may just want to plan on recovering boats and paddles here.
Below the Fearsome Foursome the river takes a quick turn through a class II-ish riffle, through a pool and then comes to a great little 3 way drop that has a great archin boof on the left called "Island Drop" (Read the Rapid Description Beta Added 6/10/2009)
Just below this ledge is another double ledge called "Fisherman's". Set safety if you are new to this one. He's a sticky little bugger and he eats (Riot)Kix every morning.
After Fisherman's you can relax as you come to the last two ledges before the end of the run.
There are two drops at the end of the run that are highly advised. Rootball and the Final Drop. The final drop is actually not that advisable but Rootball is fun and now it is clean of wood.
Njoy
James
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