I found a few places we had never visited. This is one of them - it turned out to be quite a find! It's called Ballard Locks (or the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks) and it links Puget Sound with Lake Washington. It is quite amazing, considering it was built in 1911. Not only do the locks prevent the salt water from intruding into fresh water, and potentially killing the lake, but they also help move boats between the two differing levels of water.
On the way from the parking area, there is a beautiful little park - a great spot for lunch if you happen to work close by. There was even a band playing as we walked by.
There are two locks, allowing boats to travel in the two directions at the same time. Here you can see some of the boats tied into the lock - I believe the water was going up on this one.
After watching some of the locks (and having to wait while the gates open/close), we crossed to the other side to find this art structure, and have a look at the fish ladder - yes, fish can climb ladders, we saw it with our own eyes! The fish swim up the 21 "steps" to migrate from salt to fish water, making this ladder fairly unique. Most fish ladders are built entirely in fresh water to make it easier for the fish on their migration.
Crossing back to where we started, we saw these boats heading towards Puget Sound, so the water level was lowering in this shot.
