Sunrise 61: Alms Park (Orange Fog, Lunken Overlook)

Beautiful shot of the early-orange sunrise.

The trusty old steed at the overlook landing.

I overheard the weather guy last night say that this week would be hot, wet, and with lots of thunderstorms. To me this means two things: 1) I might get wet out there in the mornings, and 2) Fog!

This morning was the perfect blend of fog and clear skies, with a touch of purple cumulus that showed up just before I left Alms Park. The ride to Alms Park is more steep than Ault Park so I typically save it for a particularly beautiful day, or as was the case today, when I want to get a challenging workout in. I skipped last Friday because there was a storm in the area. But if I am to be honest with myself – I think I just wimped out! We had a late night (Amanda had a softball game down in East End and the after party ended up coasting through the night) and it was dark and wet.

This morning’s trip up to Alms Park was a pleasant one indeed. The fog was thick down in the valley and especially on the right side, looking out over the overlook, where the Ohio River’s fog patch was creeping over into Lunken Airport. The park itself had a hazy mist about it but fortunately it wasn’t enough to drown out the sunrise.

The long climb up to the top of Alms Park, with a bit of mist in the air.

The valley was thick with fog. We can see where the sun is getting ready to break through on the left side, where the sky is starting to take on a pinkish color.

The greenery was lush. Seriously, the Cincinnati forests are so healthy right now after all of this rain. I keep remembering the span between Sunrise 10 and 30 where it seemed almost every single morning was an overcast storm.

This is the “Lunken Overlook”, although it has no official name. The grass lawn is well kept and allows us to see right down into Lunken Airport. At this point in the morning I was surprised to see several runners out jogging around Alms Park. I think Alms Park might get more morning activity than Ault Park, although it probably also has to do with the fact that there is only one road through Alms so it appears to be more compact when in reality Ault Park simply has more room to roam.

The sun has started to rise. A deep orange color is apparent through the thick haze. I found out that my camera has “fixed aperture” that is dependent on the zoom. So the only way for me to “increase” aperture (f-ratio) is to zoom in. Weird in a way, but it does feel nice now that the aperture selection isn’t “random”. I imagine that this is the reason why I am able to get the lines of cloud through this early morning sun.

If you’re on the front page, click to continue —> About 16 pictures total 🙂

The sun is starting to shed some of the pink in favor of orange.

Looking across the lawn. Pink to blue gradient.

The fog started to pick up the volume as the valley warmed up.

A vertical shot (for the ladies!)

Notice how the skies are clear of any clouds. In a few minutes some puffy cotton-ball clouds, my favorite kind, come strolling in from the west.

Sunrise with a touch of cumulus.

After about 40 minutes beyond sunrise time, my favorite part of the sunrise and after most people would consider the sunrise to be “over”, the sky takes on a bright yellow appearance with the help of the high humidity.

The fog is starting to clear out a bit down in the basin. You can see part of the airport support structures appearing through the thinning haze.

Looking out over Lunken Airport!

I grabbed a picture of “that plane”, the one that I’ve come to know now quite well. I have seen it now several times (and have many pictures to prove it!) taking off just before 7:00am. It typically is the first plane out after the fog clears. He did well – took off in the fog and slowly rose out of it into the sunrise. One of these days I’ll go down to Reeves golf course and bike path and see the take-off up close.