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This fifth post in a little Monday series of candids of Seattlites in their environs was preempted yesterday because of big doings' you may have heard about :-). These two women on an early morning ride were walking their bikes across the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks. Although everyone has to walk their bike through the Locks and botanical garden, this is still a favorite route of cyclists wanting to cross the ship canal without having to navigate the narrow pedestrian path on the nearby Ballard Bridge or having to ride much further east to the more bike friendly Fremont Bridge.
A sunny Saturday evening in Seattle, Washington set the stage for the largest pontoons ever built in the state to be floated in through the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks. Photo taken Aug. 11, 2012.
Crews floated in the first longitudinal pontoon for the new SR 520 bridge through the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks on August 11, 2012. Arriving just after 6 p.m., the entire operation took around 45 minutes and was observed by hundreds of spectators enjoying the sunny Saturday in Seattle, Washington. This pontoon is the first of 77 that will make their way from their casting basins to Lake Washington during the next two years.
In the Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Garden, at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (a.k.a. the Ballard Locks), Seattle.
Once the massive pontoon was within the locks, crews tied it off. The water level rose, allowing tugboats to successfully tow them through the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
Crews floated in the first longitudinal pontoon for the new SR 520 bridge through the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks on August 11, 2012. Arriving just after 6 p.m., the entire operation took around 45 minutes and was observed by hundreds of spectators enjoying the sunny Saturday in Seattle, Washington. This pontoon is the first of 77 that will make their way from their casting basins to Lake Washington during the next two years.
Camera: Zero 2000 Pinhole
Film: Kodak Ektar 100
Exposure Time: 5 seconds
Location: Ballard Locks - Seattle, Washington
A quick exposure of the group of photographers I joined up with on Worldwide Pinhole Day to celebrate pinhole photography. Hank, the person standing on the right is using his Zero 4x5 as I took this photograph. I had never crossed paths with another pinhole photographer in my adventures around town so it was really a blast to meet up with a few for a few hours last sunday.
When I was a kid my sister and I spent frequent weekends at my grandparents' place on Three Tree Point in their "Princess Suite" -- the Mother-in-Law apartment over the garage that they renovated after my Great Gram passed away.
It was a crazy mash up of Danish modern furnishings and flocked wallpaper, my Bompa's idea of high style.
Weekends meant waffles and classic movies (Zorro or Shane or the Sound of Music which would send my grandmother into her own trilling rendition of Climb Every Mountain) -- and field trips. The University of Washington when the cherry trees bloomed in the Quad. Long drives through my Bompa's old neighborhood or the Peninsula. The Garden Room at Frederick and Nelson's to lunch on chicken pot pie.
Field trips in the spring when the salmon were running meant a drive to the Ballard Locks to see Bompa's Fish.
Which bored me to tears.
Fish. Swimming. Upstream.
Got it.
But I never said that out loud. And although Bompa may have guessed that I was barely interested he never tried to win me over. We just walked the locks. And watched the fish. And monitored the tedious passage of boats and ships from fresh to salt water and back again.
So I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how that gentle meditation worked its way into my bones. How the muscle memory is triggered every time I go back to that place, like I did this last weekend, to walk the locks, and watch the fish, and the passage of ships.
How it summons up the memory of his brisk walk beside me, his gentle gestures, the swell of his chest as he breathed in the excitement and watched his fish run.
Got it.
These wave sculptures outside the fish ladder at the Ballard Locks in Seattle are just absolutely enticing. Interactive pubic art's the best.
The snug fit of the massive longitudinal concrete pontoon being floated into the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks required close observation to safely tow them onto Lake Washington. Photo taken during the first float-in on Aug. 11, 2012.
Crews floated in the first longitudinal pontoon for the new SR 520 bridge through the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks on August 11, 2012. Arriving just after 6 p.m., the entire operation took around 45 minutes and was observed by hundreds of spectators enjoying the sunny Saturday in Seattle, Washington. This pontoon is the first of 77 that will make their way from their casting basins to Lake Washington during the next two years.
Went out to the Ballard Locks. Pretty cool, I have never see Locks operate before, amazing when you think about what is going on and how they came up with they idea.
This is underneath where you can watch the salmon swim upstream.
The first concrete bridge pontoon for the replacement SR 520 bridge is shown floating in Shilshole Bay on Aug. 11, 2012.
Crews floated in the first longitudinal pontoon for the new SR 520 bridge through the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks on August 11, 2012. Arriving just after 6 p.m., the entire operation took around 45 minutes and was observed by hundreds of spectators enjoying the sunny Saturday in Seattle, Washington. This pontoon is the first of 77 that will make their way from their casting basins to Lake Washington during the next two years.
Seattle, Washington
The Hiram Chittenden Locks will be 100 years old in 2017, one of Seattle's top tourist destinations and a local favorite.
The "Ballard Locks", as they are known locally, connect fresh and salt waters, holding back the flood of an enormous water basin (Lake Union, Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish).
The fish ladder at the locks provides access for large runs of salmon returning to their native streams along with a front-row seat for the people of Seattle and visitors to watch them and the sea lions who prey on them.
The drawbridges around Ballard are reputed as some of the world's busiest because of boat traffic (commercial and leisure) transiting between the fresh and salt waters connected by the Ballard Locks. The average time for a drawbridge to open and close is about 4 minutes and quite a sight. The drawbridges do not open between 7-9 AM or between 4-6 PM on weekdays.
The bridges are opened and closed by the bridge tender who communicates with vessels from a high perch with a prime view.
The massive bridge pontoons left just a couple of feet of clearance on both sides at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Seattle. Photo taken during the first float-in on Aug. 11, 2012.
Crews floated in the first longitudinal pontoon for the new SR 520 bridge through the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks on August 11, 2012. Arriving just after 6 p.m., the entire operation took around 45 minutes and was observed by hundreds of spectators enjoying the sunny Saturday in Seattle, Washington. This pontoon is the first of 77 that will make their way from their casting basins to Lake Washington during the next two years.
These people are living the Pacific Northwest sustainable dream. Meet Rick and Heidi of Cape Cleare Salmon. Rick Oltman takes his fishing vessel, the Cape Cleare, from Port Townsend up into Alaskan waters during fishing season and uses hook and line to bring in the catch one at a time. He and partner Hiedi board ferries on these two Surly "Big Dummy" bicycles and custom trailers he built to transport the frozen catch to restaurants and markets. They were on their way home from selling at the Sunday Ballard Farmers Market when we passed them crossing the Ballard Locks. I was smitten with the colorful artwork on sail cloth that they've incorporated into the frames. Please take a look at my More Seattle Stuff page to see shots of the trailers in full, as their design is ingenious and can carry hundreds of pounds of cargo. When you not only know what waters your fish came from but who caught it and how, it's got to make you feel good. Their values Hiram M. Chittenden Locksand integrety show in the ways they've chosen to run their business. I think that's pretty inspirational to see.
My sweets giving me her 'who me?' look over the shoulder. Thanks for looking so cute in the sun love!
Nikon D800 | Nikkor Q Auto 135 mm f/2.8 | 1/160 sec at f/2.8 | 135mm | 100 ISO
Pontoon W is guided by a front tug boat tied to the pontoon. Crews oversee the work as the pontoon continues to progress through the locks. Rebar forms are also visible on top of the pontoons.
Ewen Ross ex Charlies Charm II ex Harbor Patrol Boat, Wilma J.
I first came across this boat at the terminal as the Wilma J. She still had most of her patrol safety gear and the name plaque with description. (still on boat I see)
Then one day she ended up at the boatyard Hibernia is moored. The new owner statred to remodel her. She moved to Bainbridge shorty after the boat work. I believe that's when the owner changed her name to Charlies Charm II.
I think she might have new owners now. New name and we didn't recognize anyone on the boat today. She looks good and moves right along..
Pictures from my last ride of 2014 around Seattle on a clear, cold New Years Eve. The ride included a picnic lunch on the Seattle Waterfront and coffee made out of doors above the Ballard Locks. A few words about this ride can be read over on the old blog.