[TV static]
- NARRATOR: It was 30 years ago that the
"Texas Parks & Wildlife" television series,
originally known as "Made in Texas" got its start.
Alan Fisher is one more than 30 producers, photographers,
writers and editors who have contributed to the show since
its first broadcast in 1985.
- I'm Alan Fisher, I'm a producer with the
Texas Parks & Wildlife TV series and have been since 2001.
I've met a lot of really great people over the years
and been to some really interesting places so it's
hard to pick a favorite story.
[metal clanking]
One of my favorites is a story I did on outdoor social clubs.
Followed a group called Hill Country Outdoors on some
events including a trip to Big Bend National Park.
Thanks you guys.
Have fun.
Met some nice folks and kept in touch with some,
one of whom I later married.
Ok!
Certainly a memorable story for me, and I hope that you
will enjoy Outdoor Clubbing.
- BILL TALBOT: Find a good spot back here.
[groans]
♪ Load the truck, lots of fun. ♪
- NARRATOR: Bill Talbot and his friend, John Dukes,
are going camping.
- JOHN: I can't remember what it is.
- BILL: Going out to Big Bend National Park.
- NARRATOR: And they're packing a lot of stuff.
- This is the dirty work.
This is how the sausage is made, behind the scenes peek.
[laughs]
[music]
- MRS. TALBOT: Be safe.
- BILL: We'll try.
Let's do this.
[trailer door closing]
And we're off.
[music]
And it's off to Big Bend we go.
This will be our ninth annual trip out there.
We keep going back because it's just an amazing place.
[car passing]
Tons to explore.
Just taking in the awesomeness that is the Big Bend
part of Texas.
- NARRATOR: Now Bill didn't load that trailer just for himself
and a couple of friends.
Their friends and more, almost 50 folks in all,
are camping with Bill's club, Hill Country Outdoors.
[group cheering]
- BILL: It's a pretty active group.
Every year it's always, probably a third to half the group
are newbies who have never been out here before,
so it's pretty awesome to see their eyes just open wide
when they get out here and check out this incredible spot
we're in.
[music]
- NARRATOR: Tent camping in the mountains can take some
getting used to...
- The ground's kind of hard, and it was a little cold.
- NARRATOR: ...but that's what the coffee is for.
- Much better.
- Something warm.
- The hashbrowns.
Yeah do another batch of eggs if you've got those going.
- NARRATOR: After fueling up, the campers have
plenty of options.
- BILL: Tons of hikes, lots of hikes.
What are y'all doing today?
- JOHN: Alright.
- KEN HARRIS: Here we go.
JOHN: We're doing the Lost Mines Trail.
- MARGARET: Don't fall.
[laughs]
- KEN: Can I see my truck from here?
My main reason for being part of this group is
to do the things that I like to do with other people
that like to do that stuff.
All the laughter up and down this hill today,
it's because of the people.
- MARGARET: One small step for mankind, you know,
something like that.
- KEN: If I'd been doing this by myself I wouldn't have had
near as much fun.
- MARGARET: There's a photo op every 10 feet,
so there's lots of breaks.
JOHN: Casa Grande.
Wow!
- MARGARET: That's pretty.
[shutter clicks]
- KEN: There we go.
- MARGARET: That's gorgeous.
- NARRATOR: Ken Harris is a Big Bend veteran,
having made all nine trips with Hill Country Outdoors.
- KEN: We're in the home stretch.
- NARRATOR: As for Margaret Dean...
- MARGARET: I'm not an experienced hiker, obviously.
- NARRATOR: ...this is all a little new.
- I'm going camping and hiking for the first time.
- NARRATOR: That makes reaching the summit
all the more rewarding.
- MARGARET: High five, maybe a high ten!
[laughs]
It's fabulous.
Just fabulous.
Top of the world!
- BILL: This is a doozy to pick as your first campout.
But the views are spectacular, and the payout's worth it.
- NARRATOR: For those less interested in scaling mountain
peaks, Hill Country Outdoors offers plenty of camping
and hiking closer to home.
Like, in the Hill Country.
[turkey gobble]
- We see a few turkeys.
- JOHN: We are out here in part to see the turkeys.
- DAVE: About five of them out there.
- But uh, some people came along who wanted to do some
canoeing and kayaking, so, it's pretty laid back.
[flowing water]
- KEVIN McNEIL: Some of them came out to hike.
I came out here to paddle on the South Llano.
[paddling]
The canoeing and some of the stuff is a little bit
beyond the comfort zone for a lot of the members.
So it's always nice to have somebody with you who knows
what they're doing.
- JANICE: Beep beep
Just a beautiful, beautiful river.
Prior to joining the club a few months ago,
I didn't have any paddling experience.
This is a club that's full of those type of activities.
I don't get bored with it because there's just
such a diversity to choose from.
- NARRATOR: The club's calendar lists multiple events
each day of the week.
With affiliated clubs in other cities, members have
recreation options around the state and beyond.
- JOHN: The internet is making all of this possible really,
it helps share the information of what you need to do,
meet here, show up with this, plan on this amount of time.
Without the internet, none of this would happen.
- NARRATOR: Free services, like Meetup.com, are making
it easier for folks with specific interests to join
group activities.
Outdoor clubs like Hill Country charge fees but tend to offer
more organized events.
- Someone else does all the organizing, someone like me.
- BILL: We'll take care of all the logistics and all the
pain-in-the-rear stuff and you just kind of show up
and have fun.
- RUSS DUBOSE: Underwater when we're scuba diving
we want to be what's called neutrally buoyant...
- JOHN: It makes it easier to just, you know, touch your toe
in a little bit.
- RUSS: ...We want to be swimming along in the
water column.
- JENNI TOOLEY: Today I learned to scuba dive.
I was a little worried about going underwater and breathing.
Because that just seems completely not right to me.
I've been kind of crossing off my list things I'm scared to do.
Or things I want to do that I'm a little hmmm about.
So this was one of those things, I was like, okay,
I did that, I feel good, I feel good about myself.
- RUSS: Nicely done.
- BILL: That's kind of the whole spirit behind this club is uh,
try things you want to do but are a little bit
nervous about doing on your own, so it's nice to have a
built-in support group to try these kind of events with.
[metal clicking]
- WOMAN: Woohoo!
Alright!
- BILL: We did the zipline and that was great.
- WOMAN: Woo!
- MAN: I don't recommend anybody do this.
[laughs]
I'm kidding!
- BILL: I'm with Bayou City Outdoors in Houston
and then there's the Hill Country Outdoors group
that's here.
- EVA MOORE: Woo!
- BILL: They all play well with others.
- EVA: It was so fun.
Awesome.
- MAN: Like a pro.
[metal latching]
[screams]
- BILL: Seeing everybody having fun...
[laughter]
...and smiling.
It doesn't get much better.
- WOMAN: It's fun.
- NARRATOR: Of course outdoor clubs aren't all high adventure.
- JOHN: A lot of it's also just hanging out and talking
and cooking dinner or trying to cook dinner,
sitting around a campfire.
There's a whole other side that's sometimes jokingly
called Hill Country Indoors.
We meet for dinners, go out for drinks.
- BILL: In general most people leave Thursday morning...
- NARRATOR: In fact, much of the preparation for that Big Bend
trip was disguised as a social hour at a local pub.
- Something always goes wrong every year,
but I won't tell you what because that's half the fun.
[laughs]
- NARRATOR: But, except for some aching ankles and toes...
- SABIE: Just put another couple of bandages on it
so it won't hurt so much.
- NARRATOR: ...this trip is coming off without a hitch.
As the weekend draws to a close, hikers and bikers head for the
trails of Big Bend Ranch State Park for more exploring.
[gate latch]
- BILL: Good rusty gate.
Still have a day job, but it is a business.
Vamanos!
It's a for-profit.
I jokingly say if you ask my accountant it looks like a
non-profit more times than not, but, I've always been the party
organizer, so it just kind of comes naturally to me.
And plus I just love the outdoors.
This trip is 140 bucks I guess is what it costs.
That's 12 meals included and planned activities
every day, so...
- WOMAN: That looks pretty!
- BILL: ...it's hard to do a trip for four or five days
on that price, so, we think it's a pretty good deal.
- KEN: You guys okay?
I already know Bill doesn't make a lot of money out of it.
A lot of the reason he does it is because he enjoys it as well.
[wind]
I'm 66.
When I'm out here I feel their age.
- BILL: You've got young and old, you've got people from all
backgrounds, all stripes, but there's something inside of them
that knows they need to be doing more of this.
- NARRATOR: And for folks like Ken, the club is more
than a way to get outdoors on the weekends.
- KEN: I had a personal tragedy a few years ago,
and my friends from Hill Country Outdoors,
they made the difference for me.
They saved my life.
My best friends today...
- HIKER: To Ken, our tour guide.
- KEN: ...are people I met in Hill Country Outdoors
and I continue to participate
and make new friends.
- NARRATOR: It's the last day in Big Bend, and campers
clean up, pack up, and say their farewells.
- MAN: See you next time.
- MEREDITH: I'm sad, I'm sad to go home.
I will definitely go on another HCO trip, maybe next year
Big Bend again.
I'm sure there'll be another one.
- JOHN: The weekend was awesome.
It was great.
I think everybody had a great time, uh, everyone ate
really well, got some really good long hikes in.
- BILL: H'yaahh, come on everybody, let's go!
- JOHN: It's a little sad.
- BILL: Why don't we do it right here.
- JOHN: There's a lot of bonding.
- BILL: C'mon we got nothing but love in here.
- KEN: One, two, three...
[shutter click]
- JOHN: And then suddenly it comes to an abrupt end.
- KEN: Here we go, one more
[shutter]
- JOHN: But uh, it's a lot of fun.
- BILL: Alright, here we go.
- NARRATOR: So this story ends much as it began.
- BILL: Another trip in the books.
- NARRATOR: But the outdoor club story is never really over.
- BILL: Got a trailer behind us?
That's a nice thing.
- NARRATOR: This week's calendar includes 20 new adventures
to choose from.
- BILL: Every time it's something new.
[music]