Today I got to visit a very special place.
Hint:
Need more?
Yup, that's right, I was in the Ballard Locks! (Or as they're known officially, the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks and Carl S. English Gardens)
The large lock gets pumped out once a year, and this year I got the very rare opportunity to go down into the lock. It was incredible! 55' down, where you would normally be below 36+ feet of water... oh, the mechanical geek in me was squeeeeeing in delight the entire time!
We got to explore the entire lock end to end:
And even went underneath the locks!
There was sea life still in the locks to look at:
We got to go into many different nooks and crannies:
These zinc bars keep the underwater metal from rusting away:
It was astonishing to go from darkness to daylight so quickly sometimes:
back up top outside the lock we got a closer look at a capstan:
The whole time we were down there, pumps were running to keep all the spillage, rain, and leak water out of the lock.
Traffic continued to go through the small lock alongside - when we were below ground we could hear and feel the water flow nearby.
this is what we had for going up and down 5 stories - nerve-wracking!!
One thing I brought away from the tour was: barnacles are EVERYWHERE.
The whole time we were down there exploring, the crows up top were keeping tabs on us...
It was an experience I will never forget - what a great day!
