2009 Ballard Paddle, Part II
Our paddle to the Ballard Locks began at Lake Washington, across from the University of Washington, where Felix gave us a
general description of the paddle. We then paddled past the University of Washington stadium..
In his briefing, Felix failed to inform us that we would immediately travel down an airplane taxi strip. I was so busy taking a
picture of the kayakers and the bridge that I did not notice an airplane coming towards me. Had I not been paddling on the
right side, my head might have been chopped off by the airplane propeller.
A concerned Jackie checks
to make sure she is not
going over the seven
nautical mile speed limit
(right).
As we did last fall, we
observed numerous
interesting house
boats. This one, with
the Canadian flag, was
a converted paddle
wheel boat.
While the others went shopping for a house boat, Jackie and I paddled over to Gas Works Park on Lake Union. Gas Works
park contains remnants of the sole remaining coal gasification plant in the US which operated from 1906 to 1956,
From Gas Works Park, we paddled under highway 99 to the Fremont Bridge, a double-leaf bascule bridge that connects
over Seattle's Fremont Cut between Fremont and Queen Anne.

The Fremont Bridge was opened on Friday June 15, 1917 .

Due to its low clearance, the Fremont Bridge opens an average of 35 times a day, which makes it the most frequently
opened drawbridge in the United States and one of the busiest bridges in the world. Federal law gives marine traffic the
right-of-way over vehicular traffic. However the Fremont Bridge is closed to water traffic during rush hours.

Note the Olympic Mountains in the background.
To Jackie's amazement, the bridge opened as she approached.
Just as Jackie started to shout her thanks for the bridge opening, a barge and tugboat with a large crane came around the
corner and through the bridge.