Back in 1906 a logger named Boyden was exploring the area around Kings Canyon and chanced upon a cavern.  He explored it a bit and then went back to where he worked (several miles away) and filed a miners claim to the area around and including the cavern.  It was the only way to protect the cavern back in 1906.

He owned the claim for more than 10 years and in that time he took hardy tourists and cave explorers through the cavern for a quarter each.  At this time (1906-1916) there were no roads so it was a hike through steep hills and rocky terrain to even get to the cavern!  He lived in the cavern during the winters and in a small cabin nearby during the summers.

Once he was exploring the cavern on his own in the early spring, a time when water rushed through the cavern about shin-high, and he lost his balance in the rocky streambed and broke his lantern and got all his matches wet.  Alone in the pitch black, he survived by crawling along the streambed for over 3 hours knowing it would lead him to the cavern entrance.  When he died many years later he had no family to inherit the claim so it passed to the state and became part of Kings Canyon when the national park was formed.

We took a one-hour guided tour through the cavern.  Very interesting, in a few places we had to duck under stalactites and squeeze through narrow areas.  Well lighted except when the tour guide turned out the lights to show us what Boyden endured at least once.

Enjoy the pictures Jeff took: