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A crowd of creek-lovers showed up Saturday to the inaugural Creek Walk, hosted by Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop and water-quality intern Maya Hardison.

Held at the Walnut Creek Wetland Center, more than 20 people donned waders and took a walk through Little Rock Creek in Raleigh.

“Even though a lot of the people there were familiar with the creek, we had a wide variety of folks, like a 2004 N.C. State graduate, a younger person who was just interested in the science, some City of Raleigh and Carolina Wetlands Association people came — I think it was a healthy mix of people from different backgrounds,” Maya said.

Sam and Maya were inspired to hold the walk by their own ventures into Little Rock Creek, exploring the issues affecting the urban waterway, and realized it was a great way to connect people to the creek, and Sound Rivers’ work.

“I spent some time introducing the people at the Creek Walk to what I was doing as a water-quality intern with Sound Rivers, such as how to take samples and do YSI readings (turbidity),” Maya said. “I love explaining people about Sound Rivers’ work and how important it is. I not only found it enjoyable, but it reminded me of why exactly I’m doing this. It made me feel motivated.”

While there was little trash to be found — likely because the Little Rock Creek trash trap had captured the majority and got a clean-out last week — creek walkers saw firsthand the erosion caused by stormwater runoff: their stopping point was at the edge of Carnage Middle School’s campus, where the creek has become blocked by a tree felled by the bank’s erosion.

With the positive response from creek-walkers, Maya said she’d be up for regularly hosted Creek Walks.

 “It was very informative, and the people who were there wanted to be there, so there was a lot of energy, which made it really nice,” Maya said.