Images in this gallery were photographed on June 8th 2011. After a record snowfall year of 649 inches, I was standing on 35-40 foot snow banks and drifts to photograph still in early June. Access at this point was limited to the south rim lodge area and Discovery Point. It is expected that the rim drive will not be open until after the end of July in 2011. The views from the south rim are impressive. Even with a wide angle full frame DSLR setup the panoramic image is built from four full frame captures. I can only hope to emphasize the other worldly expanse of sky, snow covered caldera and the deepest blue lake in the US with the contained images. Everyone should try see this place in person at one point in your life. The daunting fact to get your head around is that this place was once a 12,000ft volcano that blew about 7,700 years ago. To view the original color captures please see the Crater Lake National Park, OR gallery.