Photos shot for the October issue
What Scares You?
Step foot in a haunted house or watch a gory horror flick and the reasoning mind tells you it's only actors in makeup. But plop down in a tent in the middle of the pitch-black wilderness and those tingles up the spine are welcome and exciting, even if the sounds that induce those thrilling shivers emanate from reality.
There's no better month than October — with the first hint of a chill that makes us want to build a campfire, make some venison chili and sleep under the stars — to leave behind our jitters and embrace our primal instinct to connect with the natural world.
Camping, Elevated
Camp in the treetops with new platform tent options.
Lately it seems, collapsible tents are sprouting atop cars, trucks and trailers, as if good old dirt-level camping just doesn't cut it anymore.
Texas Jaws
Sharkathon competitors try their skill at catching gulf giants.
Sean Curless and his buddy Casey Sanger have a Captain Quint glint in their eyes as they launch a sit-on-top kayak into the 5-foot waves bum-rushing the sands of Padre Island National Seashore.
The Texas anglers are 30 miles down the island from Malaquite Beach, where each summer international crowds turn out for the release of endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle hatchlings. Today, it's late October, and sea turtles aren't on their minds. Though less grizzled than actor Robert Shaw, who played the captain in the Hollywood classis Jaws, these fishermen are ready to face rough seas and unpredictable squalls as part of Sharkathon, a weekend-long catch-and-release shark derby.
What Was That?!
It's called nyctophobia — the fear of the dark. But it's not the dark itself that scares us. It's what may be lurking there. Could it be wolves? A bear? Has the hook-handed man from the campfire story come to attack us?
We don't seem to fear much when we spend the night indoors, with the doors locked and the night-light on. But the thought of sleeping outside can unlock primal fears that might keep us from enjoying a night under the stars. Don't let an overactive imagination keep you from the highly enjoyable, non-scary world of tent camping.
Keep Texas Wild
It's not just for kids. If you like nature-related topics in an easy-to-read format, you can find three years of our popular Keep Texas Wild issues and the teacher resources to go along with them.
