On our way back from Bend, Oregon to home, we decided to make a detour and head to Crater Lake. I’ve always wanted to go here. It is a National Park and I renewed my annual pass.

The lake is truly blue! It isn’t as wide as Lake Tahoe, but I think the maximum depth was 1943 ft! That is deep! We arrived around 10am and the sun was harsh. It was a tough scene! I definitely want to come back and photograph this place in the winter when there would be snow on the ground and at sunset or even sunrise. I know it will definitely be cold then!

The island out there is call Wizard Island. The National Park service runs some tour boats on the lake and one of the stops could be that island. You can then hike to the top. It says Strenuous in terms of difficulty. The old cinder cone looks fairly steep. I couldn’t see a trail from our vantage point, but I have a feeling it is on the southeast side of that cinder cone. They say the crater was formed from a large volcano that had collapse over the years. Just a few years!

There was this infamous tree that appeared to be dead and dry, but there was some yellow/green life to it. Many people photograph this tree as a foreground element. It was fairly big and hard to capture its entirety with my wide angle lens. I tried hard to get the composition right and have the Wizard Island in the background. It needs improvement.

We made it home in 12 hours instead of 10 because we spent about an hour here and then lunch and dinner before we got home. It was a long day! The kids survived the long drive. Now to plan the summer 2015 road trip!

Enjoy!