Boyden Cavern: Viewing a gallery of nature's artwork

[Wayne Harrison]

By GUY KEELER
Article Launched: 09/11/2007 02:48:23 PM PDT


GIANT SEQUOIA NATIONAL MONUMENT, Calif.—Rainy lullabies and thunderous free falls make water one of nature's best musicians. But it's the quiet sculptures, produced a drop at a time over eons, that can take your breath away.
Boyden Cavern—in Kings Canyon in Giant Sequoia National Monument, about two hours east of Fresno—is a good place to marvel at this ancient artwork. The cave's stalactites and stalagmites evoke visions of icicles, wedding cakes, snow-laden trees and other enchanting images.

And the rugged canyon leading to this fantasy world bears witness to the power of water to cut and shape the Sierra's rocky spine. Where the middle and south forks of the Kings River meet, not far from the cavern, lies the deepest canyon in the United States. Spanish Peak towers nearly 8,000 feet above the roiling water, making that section of Kings Canyon 2,000 feet deeper than Arizona's Grand Canyon.

Kings Canyon was formed over millions of years as glaciers, moving with the force of massive, frozen rivers, carved a path through the mountains. Then the river took over, pounding what was left with rushing water and sweeping everything it could carry.

<a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_6863382?nclick_check=1">via San Jose Mercury News</a>