David Ryan's life on the trail
Mar. 29—David Ryan has hiked all over America, but over the last 20 years, he's spent the majority of his time wandering the trails of New Mexico. Ryan, the co-author of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Albuquerque (Menasha Ridge Press, 2019), says he took 140 hikes with his dogs while researching and writing his newest book, Wandering in the Clear Light of New Mexico (New Mountain Books, 2024). The author talked with Pasatiempo about the book and his life on the trail, exploring natural spaces in New Mexico and beyond.
Have you been an avid outdoorsman all your life?
Pretty much! I'm from Chicago. I had to have a conventional business type career because I had kids. But I always said, 'As soon as they're out of college, that's it. I don't need to make as much money, and I can do other things.' And that's what I did. I quit my job when I had just turned 49, put everything in storage for a few years, and landed in New Mexico. That was 25 years ago.
What line of work were you in before you became an author?
I was in charge of sales and marketing for a small transportation software company in Chicago. When I got out to New Mexico, I still needed some income, and I got some contract work with people I had worked with before on implementation and development projects. But I always carved out enough time to do a lot of exploring. The first book I did was called Long Distance Hiking on the Appalachian Trail For the Older Adventurer (Pennywhistle Press, 2002). And I did a second edition of that book in 2012. The reason I chose that title is because there are two basic populations of the people doing a long-distance hike on the Appalachian Trail. There are young people still living on their parents' dime, going to college, or still waiting to get launched. And then you have people 45 and up. There are very few people doing a long-distance hike between the ages of 25 and 45 because those people are involved in their careers and their families and can't carve out six months to do something like that.
Have you hiked the entire Appalachian Trail?
My wife, Claudia, and I started, and we got about 300 miles on the trail when she broke her leg. We obviously had to stop. We came back the next year to pick up from where we left off, and her leg was still too sore. So she went and adopted a dog and caught up with me. The dog, Lucky, and me would hike all day and then meet up with my wife at road crossings and camp out. I've done the full 2,180 miles. It was 1998 when I finished, and that's when I moved to New Mexico.
Places in New Mexico are a bit more like car camping, right? Do you hike between those places?
We have places you can't find anywhere else and are compelling or important enough to warrant a cross-country trip to get there. I organized the book geographically and then within the geography, I have gold star locations, and those are the places worth driving across the country. For the silver star locations, there might be something similar elsewhere in the country but are very cool and now that you're in the neighborhood, it may be something worth checking out. Bronze star locations are things that are also very cool if you're interested in them.
Can you share examples?
In the Southeastern part of the state is Carlsbad Caverns National Park. There's your gold star. But just 45 minutes south of Carlsbad, just across the Texas border, is Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and that's where the Texas high point is. If you're one of those people who wants to collect state high points, it's right there. And while you're down in Carlsbad, you're in the midst of the Permian Basin oil fields. There's your bronze star location. It's a boom going on there and is the busiest oil field in the country.
What other advice do you give readers in your book?
If you can, take your dog. That's number one for me. And then I'll include the best time to go. ... I don't micromanage somebody's experience, but I do say, 'Hey, this area gets really hot, so save it for the winter.' A lot of these places you have to get to by going on dirt roads or unpaved roads, so I'll tell them that if there's snow or rain, to save it for another day.
Did you read books like yours when you were getting out in the wild?
I looked at other books and was never really satisfied with them. Some books you look at and somebody wants to show you how funny he is or they want to tell you their story. I always try to give the perspective of what you're going to experience and what you're going to find. — Spencer Fordin
David Ryan will present a talk about his book at 1:30 p.m. April 27 at Treasure House Books (2012 S. Plaza Street NW, Albuquerque, 505-242-7204; treasurehousebooks .net) and 6 p.m. May 25 at Travel Bug (839 Paseo de Peralta, 505-992-0418; maps ofnewmexico.com). More information is available at gentleartofwandering.com.
