Family Vacation Part One: Ballard Locks

Mitch's family came to visit us in Washington, which of course calls for a tour of all of the interesting things there are here! One of those is the Ballard Locks, which is pretty much Washington's version of the Panama Canal.

The Ballard Locks are the most traveled Locks in the U.S. These locks actually create a passageway between the Puget Sound (salt water) and Lake Union and other lakes (fresh water) without mixing the different water together. If you enjoy ships or transportation, this is a really amazing place to visit! The ships come through one end of the lock, are then tied to the docks, and they wait. Soon, gates at both ends of the lock close and the water level in the locks either rises or drops 17+ feet to allow ships through, lowering to allow ships into the Sound and raising to allow ships into the lakes. It is shocking how fast 500,000+ gallons of water can be shifted around to create an efficient method of transportation. 

Next to the locks is the Fish Ladder, where fish go from the sound back into the different lakes to reproduce. The ladder has been built to aid the fish past the dam separating the sound and Lake Union. It consists of a serious of "ladders" that the fish have to jump over. Unfortunately when we were there the tide wasn't right so there weren't many fish using the ladder. 

Overall the Ballard Locks were really interesting to watch with my family's background in sailing. I wished the entire time that my dad was right there with me, admiring the beautiful boats, or possibly waiting for his own vessel to go through. It reminded me of my trip to San Diego a few years ago where my sister and I spent a week helping my dad look at different sail boats. I had a nice hour of reminiscing about the many times my family almost killed ourselves trying to sail as amateurs.