About Tom Jones - I began rock climbing in 1974 and did a lot of that, eventually working for Black Diamond as a product designer of technical sewn products (harnesses, harnesses, harnesses, plus packs, gaiters, webbing products, etc.) We moved the whole company to Salt Lake City in 1991, and a few years later I discovered the DESERT.Not having much talent for it, after 20 years I got bored with climbing and started spending more time down in the desert, taking photos and hiking around. I bought the Steve Allen book, Canyoneering: The San Rafael Swell, and immediately highlighted all the places where it said “and from here, the canyon is impassable.