The Ballard Locks, Seattle

Some years back i went to Seattle where my sister lives for her wedding. She lives in an area of Seattle called Ballard. At the bottom of the hill is a park and a place called the Ballard Locks.

I can actually vaguely remember this place from when I was a kid. I think I eat at a restaurant along the locks at some point when I was a kid. Where I grew up was about a 6 hour drive from Seattle so I had visited a few times before as a child.

I love looking at the sail boats. One day I wish to sail around the world. Such beautiful boats.

These locks provide a way to get into salmon bay form the puget sound which connects to the pacific ocean. Lake union is accessed through another set of locks and ultimately Lake Washington after a 3rd set of locks. Salmon Bay is about 30 to 40 feet above sea level. The locks use water and gates to lift the boats to the level of the lake. Many people have houses along the lake and docks where they keep their boats.

These locks service more boats than any other lock in the US.

To try and aid the salmon fisheries up river there are fish ladders along one side. This is a series of pools connected by water falls that allow fish to swim up stream and bypass the locks. Here you can go into a room under water that has glass looking into the side of the fish latter into some of the pools. It is very common to see salmon passing.

A view of down towards the locks up the hill into the neighborhood of Ballard.