Beautiful Destruction
- On October 16, 2014
- By Randall Tate
- In Canyoneering, Desert, Hiking, Wilderness
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Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Canyon country is a battlefield. It is an apocalyptic arena where nature fights an endless war, destroying the old and creating the new. The weapons are all powerful; wind, sun and water thrash relentlessly against any surface they contact. Uncountable tons of sand, rock and soil are vanquished from the high lands, becoming refugees and starting new lives in the valleys and plains far below. The land will never be the same. And that is exactly the point.
When the sounds and distractions of our daily lives fade away and we let ourselves slip into the desert wilderness that calls to our souls, a transformation takes place. We notice the textures, the smells and the vibrations emanating from every molecule, slamming into our now awakened mind. Our bodies adjust to scorching sunshine, penetrating cold, blood thirsty spines and uneven ground in this new world. Your shoes suddenly grip slopes that would have seemed impossibly steep just days before. Undulations in canyon walls appear, showing the way out, or the way in. Water becomes the highest priority.
As we let go and embrace the changes in our mind, body and soul, we experience what the destruction means and the opportunity that it creates.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah

Mr. Ben, Canyon Explorer – Zion National Park, Utah
Ace’s Front Yard
- On April 30, 2013
- By Randall Tate
- In Camping, Canyoneering, Desert, Hiking, Wilderness
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Ace’s front yard is big, really big. It’s so vast that you need a backpack, camping gear, two weeks of food, a map and a compass just to cross it. The entire yard is close to 2 million acres so walking out into it without a plan is not the brightest of ideas. We spent a few days trekking through it with him, his “dawg” Genghis and some other friends. We never even came close to the other side.

Water is everything in the desert

Nature’s artistry at work
The Blood Oath
- On May 04, 2011
- By Randall Tate
- In Canyoneering, Desert, Hiking, Uncategorized
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Some places are worth keeping a secret. Southern Utah is one of them. Here’s a few images of places that Ace, Genghis and I have explored in the past few months.
Read More»Canyon Version 2.0
- On August 29, 2008
- By Randall Tate
- In Canyoneering, Desert, Self-Assignment
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It was time to test the LowePro pack again. Ace and I had a good adventure as this canyon was so committing that Genghis couldn’t even join us. At one point, we tied a rope to the pack and had to huck it over the lip of a pothole to get out. Ace had to climb on my shoulders to reach the lip. Next time we bring a Batman grappling hook.
Read More»Deer Creek
- On July 28, 2008
- By Randall Tate
- In Camping, Canyoneering, Desert
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Ace, Justin, Mitchells and I went exploring Deer Creek. It just happened to be after some heavy rains that turned the water into coffee. Here are some of Ace and Justin’s photos.
Read More»Lowe Pro
- On June 28, 2008
- By Randall Tate
- In Canyoneering, Desert
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Ace has been “in the game” long enough where he gets his share of free stuff. Last week he got me a CamelBak. My job…try to break it. This week, it’s the LowePro “waterproof” backpack. We tried to kill it, but it held up. We’ll try again next week.
Read More»World Meet Genghis
- On June 28, 2008
- By Randall Tate
- In Canyoneering
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Genghis smart, really smart. I’m convinced he speaks more languages than your average Swede. Sometimes we pass the library and he just looks at it longingly. He obviously wants more knowledge than what we can offer him. In the photo above he’s trying to tell me that I have the ISO set wrong on my camera. I ignore him, but I’m convinced some day he’ll save my life.
Marmot
- On June 18, 2008
- By Randall Tate
- In Canyoneering, Desert, Self-Assignment
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A few Marmot jackets showed up in the mail a couple weeks ago. The call came in from Marmot that they needed Ace to take some shots of them in action. There’s not an abundance of models in Boulder so Genghis and I got the job. We did three locations in one day. The last one, Mushroom Rock, is literally out the back door of the office and turned out to be the winner. We went up there on a whim, but they ended up liking one of the shots and used it in their ad.
Read More»
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