Sunrise 30: Ault Park (Low Lying Cumulus, More Murdock Fountains)

This morning made for a nice quick trip up to the park. I was kind of exhausted from my longest ride of the year that I partook in last night. Starting at Element Cycles the weekly group ride did 30 miles, including two “valley hill” climbs (as if once wasn’t enough! 😉 ). We went out through Milford and Indian Hill before looping back around to Hyde Park. I wasn’t nearly as exhausted as the first ride I did a few weeks ago, and I definitely attribute that to this project for helping me get into shape.

The air this morning was dense but not nearly as thick as it was yesterday. There were small patches of fog down in the valley but compared to the cloudy layer I explored yesterday, I would almost call it a clear day! After Saturday, Friday is my favorite day of the week to visit the park in the morning. More people seem to have Friday off work so there is usually more foot traffic – runners, dog walkers, and bikers. I met two different people this morning that recognized me from this week’s article in the Eastern Hills Journal. I was quite surprised actually! It feels good to know that local people that I don’t know are enjoying the project.

The “overlook timelapse” shot. Much more clear than yesterday!

The sunrise this morning started off quiet and dark, but with the open atmosphere above the thick low lying fog bank, I knew that patience would pay off this morning.

Armleder Park, where I explored yesterday morning. You can see that it is clearing up nicely. The shelter sits right in the middle of the park, and the small paved forest bench where I found the coyote tracks is located directly in the center of the picture, you can see where there is a straight path starts at the shelter and goes at about “10:00”, across the paved loop, and into the forest.

About ten minutes after sunrise, the sky started to lighten up and the upper atmospheric clouds began to illuminate

The “Delayed Sunrise”, about 25 minutes after true sunrise. If you’re on the front page, click to continue ->

The low lying bank was impressively thick. You can see the top of the bank, on the right, being illuminated by the sun.

Another shot of the fog and the cumulus top. Thick clouds, indeed.

Heekin Overlook

Here we go! The sun has finally come out, casting some beautiful highlights through the atmosphere.

As the sun rose over the low lying cumulus bank, it began to illuminate the tops of the clouds directly below it. One of my favorite effects. The camera makes it look a bit more grandeous than it does in real life due to the detail provided by the zoom and the lighting, but I have to admit these are one of my favorite kinds of sunrises.

After learning about the “Murdock Fountains” yesterday, I decided that on the way out of the park I’d document the two fountains next to the overlook and the fountain up by the pavilion.

Human Fountain and Dog Fountain 🙂 Based on what I learned from talking with Bob Murdock in email correspondence, I believe this fountain dates to the 1960s – the same time period (and style) as the murdock fountain I found yesterday at the abandoned Linwood Public School. I may be wrong, though.

The pedal on the fountain. Note the lack of patent date, in contrast to the other fountain by the pavilion.

The dog / foot fountain up close.

The pavilion fountain

Notice the difference in style of the pavilion fountain. This fountain is probably (hopefully?) from the time period when Ault Park was established in 1911. I’m not sure when the Pavilion was built, I believe sometime in the first ten years that the park existed. These fountains are made to last, and I hope to find the oldest murdock fountain in the city. He said that this design originates from the late 1800s.

Pavilion Fountain Pedal.

The interesting thing is that while the design may date to the late 1800s, there is a “Pat. July 20 1915” stamped into the pedal. I’m not sure if this refers to the fountain itself or the pedal design. Either way this puts a solid date to the first two decades of the 1900s.

Looks like they’re setting up for an event @ the pavilion!

The lawn, basking in the morning light with beautiful symmetry.

On the way out of the park I noticed a small tree that has just started blooming with bottom hanging white flowers.

Close up of the flowers. Probably an easily identified tree species, but I don’t know what it is!

Tomorrow morning I’m volunteering at Krohn Conservatory’s Butterfly Show. If I can get up the energy to bike to Mt. Adams I may have some exploring to do in Eden Park at sunrise! We’ll see what happens 🙂