A tribute and celebration of the diverse natural beauty of the Golden State and through Galen’s photographs and the dynamic voices of its writers, a portrait of the ever-renewing spirit California has come to embody.

This exquisitely printed volume blends many of Galen’s best full-color California images with excerpts from the work of California writers ranging from John Muir to Maya Angelou. “California is a place where you can find whatever you come looking for,” writes Wallace Stegner. Among other writers offering praise are Mary Austin, Ray Bradbury, Joan Didion, Jack London, David Brower, Deena Metzer and Gary Snyder. The text was compiled and edited by Peter Beren of CSAA.

In California the Beautiful, Galen Rowell’s images capture the beauty of sunrise in the Anza-Borrego Desert, alpenglow on the White Mountains in the Eastern Sierra, sunset over Mt. Shasta, and Yosemite Falls by moonlight. They reveal a mountain lion kitten near Mono Lake, Tule elk at Point Reyes National Seashore and snow geese in the Klamath Wildlife Refuge.