Badger Canyon & Seven Mile Draw, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

The Grand Canyon is one of the best examples of a geological time capsule where water erodes away a revealing past, beautiful and unforgiving in equal measure. After leaving Lake Powell, the Colorado River pushes through sandstone walls through Waterholes and Lee's Ferry into a plateau where the canyon takes on a different name until passing the Little Colorado. Marble Canyon is the upper tributary providing the vast majority of the water, with beautiful overlooks that feel untraveled. We camped at the overlook where Soap Creek drains into the Colorado. Badger Canyon is known as a local Marble Canyon favorite, so Laura and I packed ropes and packrafts and made our way in.

The webbing at the drop should be replaced as of mid-March 2017 and a maillon or rap ring needs to be left. The first drop was followed by a nice ~50ft fluted chute with shelved sandstone. After a few downclimbs the canyon opened into a massive corridor with towering walls, a unique open gorge personality. The end is a rap to the Colorado River requiring packraft deployment before hitting the bottom. Exit is a Class 3 and 4 scramble over loose scree and exposed shelves to a bolted hanger with webbing for the hand line climb to the top. A packraft multi-pitch combo in one of America's most spectacular geological environments.