Yosemite Park –
miracle valley, a dream
too vast for haiku.
   

Imagine the first 
man to emerge from these trees –
view from Glacier Point
   

Carpet of needles,
pinecones as big as footballs –
Mariposa Grove
   

Giant Sequoias
dominate Mariposa –
named for butterflies?
   

Mighty redwood trees,
majestic giants, spring from
seeds in squirrels’ dung.
   

On redwood pillars,
green so high it could be sky:
Temple of Nature
   

The forest giant
leans upon its neighbors’ limbs,
dying suspended.
   

Leaping over rocks
like fish, the mountain river
sparkles in the sun.
   

Its rustic beauty
conceals some awful secrets –
lovely Cedar Lodge.  
   

Coastal redwood trees
soar above the forest floor –
ferns catch dappled sun.
   

Seagull squawks, fog horns,
bellows of the sea lions –
San Francisco's song.
   

Feet in the water,
knees in the air, head in fog –
the Golden Gate bridge.
   

Golden at sunrise
seen from afar, Golden Gate
close up – rusty brown.
   

Painted ladies stroll
hilly sidewalks lined with rows
of genteel namesakes. 
   

Houses march uphill –
rows of balanced dominos
in Sausalito.
   

Wave-lapped shores beneath
the Golden Gate, name bequeathed
by little willows.
   

Swimming shorebirds bob
with waves in all directions –
Sausalito Bay.
   

Cormorant diving –
bubbles dissipate; we wait,
trying not to breathe.
   

Windswept cypress trees
on sea-splashed cliffs point the way
to golden riches.
   

As twilight deepens,
night across the crescent bay:
lights of Monterrey
   

Single cypress clings
to massive, craggy boulders, 
braves assaulting waves.
   

In awesome fury
Crater Lake was born;  now rests
in awesome beauty.
   

In a cliff-rimmed bowl
of granite lies the deep blue
glow of captured sky.
   

Foggy clouds below
the peaks of Mount St. Helen’s 
cover death like snow.
   

Between volcanoes,
imagining flying rocks 
seen by Indians.   
   

Sea caves, island rocks,
sheltered coves with seals and birds –
pretty!  Hold your nose!  
   

Seashore carnival,
brilliant colors,  gusty winds –
kites above the beach. 
   

Columbia gorge,
dammed and tamed and beautiful –
What must it have been? 
   

Salmon fighting back
to spawn work harder to die
than they did to live. 
   

Salmon snatched by bear -
leaping, tumbling, everywhere
silver sprays the air.