Sunrise 80 (!!!!): The Cincinnati Observatory & Ault Park (Eastern Tour, Stunning Cincinnati Summer Dawn)

This is the sky 20 minutes before sunrise. Deep orange fading into a gradient blue, a color palette that I expect to see 20 minutes AFTER sunrise on a hot humid day.

The Cincinnati Observatory. For months I’ve tried to take a picture of the observatory against the sunrise but I could never get a decent frame. This morning I decided to try it from the back of the building, and I wasn’t disappointed. By far my favorite picture of the day.

This morning was another beautiful clear summer sky. It also marks my 80th sunrise – exactly twice the original goal of 40 sunrises. I originally had planned doing a full tour through the East Side, starting a half hour before sunrise, and featuring all the major stops along the way. This 11-mile (closer to 18 if both lunken loop and armleder loop are considered) route would have featured:

1. Mt. Lookout Square and a coffee stop @ UDF (or Lookout Joe’s if they’re open!)
2. The Cincinnati Observatory
3. Ault Park & Heekin Overlook
4. Down the hill to historic Linwood, past Crusade Castle.
5. Past the St. Stephen Italianate church on the corner and the mysterious “Smoke Sonada Cigars” mosaic
6. Linwood Public School (abandoned elementary school)
7. Over the cement stairs, across the rail road, and over to Armleder Park
8. Around Armleder Park’s loop and a view of the Little Miami River
9. Back to Eastern Ave past LeBlonde’s old factory, towards Lunken Airfield
10. Lunken Terminal and the Bike path, along with the Pioneer Cemetery
11. The Wilmer/Carrel bike path and the Revolutionary War Cemetery
12. Beyond the school-on-stilts to the Ohio River Launch Club marina and Ohio River
13. Back through Columbia Tusculum’s historic district and East End’s 1860s farm-style buildings
14. Up the hill past the painted homes to Alms Park
15. Around Alms, with the view of Lunken Airfield and an eastern view down the river. Maybe check out the old 1869 wine cellar.
16. Past St. Ursula Villa (LeBlond’s old home) back to Mt. Lookout Square.

And probably much more. Man, the act of going through and finding those pictures for the links really made me appreciate just how much “footage” I have of this area! I promise to re-visit the “best-of” section (top right of this website). I’ve kind of let it go on purpose because I can really appreciate the seasonal change when I pick out the best pictures two months later.

As it turns out, I started off the route correctly (at UDF and the Cincinnati Observatory) but I ended up being so social at Ault Park’s Heekin Overlook that I didn’t make it down into the valley! That’s OK though because I met a nice gentlemen named Bill and we talked for about 40 minutes about Cincinnati history and various little pieces of trivia. I learned a lot and he even filled in some long standing mysteries I had about the cement stairs down on Columbia Parkway. I also spoke with Aaron, a guy who works with the park service, for a bit about what it’s like being a horticulturist and working for the park all day. Looks like I’ll have to post-pone this route until next week!

I left my place at around 6:10am to give myself lots of “headroom” for taking pictures of the dawn sky before the sun came up. I’ve realized that these clear summer atmosphere’s provide an absolutely excellent pre-sunrise display. In the spring, when there are more clouds and more humidity, the post-sunrise light is the best. But on these clear mornings with low humidity, the sky starts to light up at least 40 minutes before sunrise. It’s outstanding!

After looking back on these pictures, I realize that I took a lot of vertical sky shots.

Arriving at the Observatory with at least 20 minutes to spare before sunrise. Already the sky is getting lit up.

I wanted to get another picture of the cornerstone. This is the original cornerstone from the Mt. Adams building, before the lens was moved to Mt. Lookout in 1873. John Quincy Adams laid it down.

The sky opposite of the sunrise (western sky) was a light pink and blue. I couldn’t quite capture the purple tones, but you get the idea.

If you’re on the front page, be sure to keep reading. About 17 pictures total, and today’s foggy sunrise was excellent!

The rear of the observatory, looking out at the clear sky.

An old pine in the back yard of the observatory.

The sunrise coming up. Vantage point from the Cincinnati Observatory’s brick patio.

After the Observatory Sunrise, I headed down Observatory Ave to Ault Park. This stone eagle watches over the intersection of herschel and observatory.

The sunrise was a clean orange one, with plenty of mist down in the valley!

Armleder Park was looking excellent with a decent mist coming off of the Little Miami River

A plane taking off from Lunken Airfield

A hastily taken shot with the plane taking off into the sunrise. Surprisingly it turned out great.

A view down into Armleder Park. At the time this picture was taken I was prepping myself for the dive into the valley.

Last shot of the morning. This is a weird one. If you look in the distance, you can see a thin cloud line that blends into the sky. That “fog patch” is actually sitting about 150 yards above the Ohio River. I thought that was a neat sight.