Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

You’re not saving the world, you’re just enjoying yourself and enjoying nature and hopefully sharing it with others.

Robert Rice runs the Hueco Rock Ranch. Rice says that the joy of rock climbing comes from the challenge.

If you enjoy the personal challenge, try to go up the hardest, most beautiful, appealing line to you and get there that way. And that’s why we climb.

There are different ways to get out on the rock.

Within rock climbing, you’ve got traditional climbing which is placing gear in the rock that’s retrievable as you go up it. A newer variation of that, you’ve got sport climbing. Sport climbing is where they use some sort of a drill and they put an anchor into the wall and it has a hanger on the outside and you can clip your carabineers to it and then you clip your rope to it. And then an even newer discipline of the sport is bouldering. And that’s climbing the detached boulders or shorter faces or roofs that can be protected with what we call crash pads. That’s basically a four foot by four foot three inch thick foam pad and the other participants, the climbers, become spotters.

Texas state parks have some world class climbs. Hueco Tanks State Historic Site attracts climbers from all over the world. For maps and more information on where to climb in Texas State Parks, visit passporttotexas.org

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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CLICK HERE to watch a video of Heuco Tanks State Historic Site.

Find a clickable map to Hueco Tanks State Historic site: http://www.huecorockranch.com/. [cut and paste URL into browser]

Rock Climbing Hueco Tanks Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Ask Eveline Evans about the value of spending time outdoors and she’s not shy about sharing her views.

It’s just a great stress reliever. It’s wonderful to get out and get away from the urban areas, and enjoy the trees and the streams. I mean, it’s just wonderful to get away.

Eveline gets away with family whenever she can. She says sharing time outdoors with loved ones—even if it’s just taking a walk in nature—is critical to healthy, balanced relationships. It brings families closer…it encourages dialogues.

Well, I think it’s very important. My husband and I, we go walking all the time together in different locations. We love the Texas state parks. We’ve done Big Bend and the Davis Mountains, Caprock Canyons, Palo Duro Canyon…all of those are just wonderful places to go out and walk. You can talk about anything it seems like. Every little thing that comes up—you can explain to younger ones your value systems, or whatever. Why when you pass a snake you’re not supposed to kill it—you just leave it alone, that type stuff.

What do you love about spending time in the outdoors? We want to know. Go to passporttotexas.org and share your outdoor story with us.

That’s our show…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Outdoor Story: Eveline Evans Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Abilene State Park is an oasis in the desert, and writer/producer Ron Kabele talks about the park and its pool this month on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series.

In Abilene State Park, they have one of the largest pools in our system. It was built by the CCC, and it’s a beautiful, big pool. It’s really the heartbeat of the park.

I’m Oakley, and I’m Chancy, and we pretty much come every weekend (giggles).

Another story this month is Oasis of the King Fishers; it’s a personal story from TV producer, Lee Smith, about his uncle’s southwest Texas ranch, and the day he saw three species of kingfisher.

One December morning, I was shooting video at one of my favorite tanks. A snipe and a greater yellow legs were keeping me company when a belted kingfisher arrived and began to hunt breakfast.

Finally, members of the American Hiking Society volunteered to build a trail at a state park…as part of a volunteer vacation.

We’re talking a trail, you know, like wheelbarrows full of gravel. Really hard work. And this is during the summer. You know, they’d take time off from their jobs, or if they’re retired, they come out. And, the park will feed them. In exchange, they get all of this manual labor. And the people love to do this.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife series airs on PBS stations statewide. Find a list at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
_______________________________________________________

CLICK HERE to find a station near you that airs the show.

TP&W TV May Highlights Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Abilene State Park is an oasis in the desert, and writer/producer Ron Kabele talks about the park and its pool this month on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series.

In Abilene State Park, they have one of the largest pools in our system. It was built by the CCC, and it’s a beautiful, big pool. It’s really the heartbeat of the park.

I’m Oakley, and I’m Chancy, and we pretty much come every weekend (giggles).

Another story this month is Oasis of the King Fishers; it’s a personal story from TV producer, Lee Smith, about his uncle’s southwest Texas ranch, and the day he saw three species of kingfisher.

One December morning, I was shooting video at one of my favorite tanks. A snipe and a greater yellow legs were keeping me company when a belted kingfisher arrived and began to hunt breakfast.

Finally, members of the American Hiking Society volunteered to build a trail at a state park…as part of a volunteer vacation.

We’re talking a trail, you know, like wheelbarrows full of gravel. Really hard work. And this is during the summer. You know, they’d take time off from their jobs, or if they’re retired, they come out. And, the park will feed them. In exchange, they get all of this manual labor. And the people love to do this.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife series airs on PBS stations statewide. Find a list at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
_______________________________________________________

CLICK HERE to find a station near you that airs the show.

TP&W TV May Highlights Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, near Fredericksburg, is a haven for rock climbers in central Texas.

They can expect to see other folks doing the same thing they are, that are rock climbing.

Reynaldo Sierra is the Park Manager. The popularity of the park’s climbs has created a strong climbing community.

More than likely they expect to find someone who is climbing at their level, whether they are a beginning climber, an intermediate climber or an advanced climber and be able to climb with these individuals in certain areas.

The climbing community at Enchanted Rock is more than just a resource for other climbers.

Climbing has built a friendly respectful community at the park. One that assists with other areas, one that has assisted with volunteer projects and the upkeep of the trails scattered throughout the site. So it has provided Enchanted Rock a volunteer base that is a big resource to the site and that helps us tremendously with the day to day upkeep of our facilities.

Sierra encourages those with questions about climbing at Enchanted Rock to contact park staff for information.

More information about climbing, including maps of Enchanted Rock are available at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Kate Lipinski… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Climbing Enchanted Rock Play Now | Play in Popup | Download