Enchanting destinations: Two new books look at New Mexico through a travel lens

Two new books are competing for the attention of travel enthusiasts.

Both are refreshing takes on touring New Mexico.

The books are “Wandering in the Clear Light of New Mexico: A Book About the State’s Special Places” by David Ryan and “Slow Travel New Mexico: Unforgettable Personal Experiences in the Land of Enchantment” by Judith Fein.

Enchanting destinations: Two new books look at New Mexico through a travel lens

Ryan’s meanderings take him, as he states in the introduction, to “locations that are truly special and are worth an extra effort to discover.” He may give a gold star, silver star, bronze star or sidebar designations to locations.

Ryan begins his touring in southeast New Mexico.

First stop is Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

“For me personally, visiting the caverns has been a mystical and almost spiritual experience. I have never felt as connected to the majestic forces of creation and nature as I have during my descents into and walks through Carlsbad Caverns,” Ryan writes.

The next is the Guadalupe Peak in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. But wait, isn’t the park in Texas?

Well, yes. What’s noteworthy for Ryan is that the peak is the highest point in Texas at 8,751 feet. The park’s entrance is about 50 miles from Carlsbad Caverns, close enough to visit a neighbor. Of note are the park’s red-barked Texas madrone trees.

The next, and quite improbable, attraction is the Permian Basin, identified as the nation’s highest producing oil patch. Most of the basin is in west Texas, a smaller portion is in southeast New Mexico.

You can’t see the basin but you can see plenty of wells pumping oil from it. And lots of trucks on roads around Hobbs and Jal.

“Sand hauling trucks, water trucks, transport trucks, service vehicles and pickup trucks of every size imaginable,” Ryan writes, adding that water and sand are for the fracking process.

A remote destination is the small plaque marking the very tip of the state’s southeast corner. Almost apologetically, Ryan writes it’s not necessary to see the corner.

Ryan enjoys revealing remote locations he finds enticing. Some of those are: Quebradas Backcountry Byway, a 24-mile dirt road on the east side of the Rio Grande from just north of Socorro to a few miles east of San Antonio (and it’s an alternative route to the Trinity Site); and Paliza Canyon Goblin Colony, a moderate 4-plus mile hike in rural Sandoval County.

“Goblin” refers to the array of twisted and altered volcanic tuft formations resembling goblins or gargoyles.

In preparing the book, Ryan, of Albuquerque, drove around with one or both of his two rat terriers.

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In the introduction/author’s note of her new book “Slow Travel New Mexico” Judith Fein shares her philosophy about her approach to traveling. That information should help travelers deepen the joy of their own excursions by slowing their pace and begin to “indulge your five senses of the world around you.”

Here is some of Fein’s useful advice. Don’t plan an itinerary, rather leave time to discover, meet people, explore beyond the main sites, don’t be afraid if you don’t speak the local language or haven’t boned up on local customs, and when you see or hear about something unusual don’t pass it up.

Her book advises travelers to be open-minded and curious, and to reach out to try new things.

And embrace the unexpected. “Travel will almost never go exactly as planned,” Fein writes. “When you head for a specific destination, you may get lost, and when you make a few wrong turns, perhaps you will end up in a fascinating place that you didn’t know about. Or you’ll discover a family restaurant that serves the best enchiladas you have ever tasted.”

She is a Santa Fe resident and veteran international travel writer.

If Ryan dipped into Texas and Oklahoma to find those states’ highest points, Fein drove from Gallup to Window Rock, Arizona, 35 miles away, to visit several special places there. One is the Navajo Nation Museum.

The facility’s history exhibition helps the visitor understand the Navajo people and culture.

Another is the nearby Navajo Nation Zoological and Botanical Park.

The zoo is different than most. “All the animals housed there are honored for their place in (Navajo) mythology, history and daily life,” Fein writes. “Each has symbolic and spiritual significance for the Navajo.”

Among the zoo’s inhabitants are red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, sandhill cranes, red foxes, great horned owls, porcupine, black bear, bighorn sheep and golden eagles.

Fein intended for each chapter to tell stories because she believes people remember stories more than facts.

Fein’s traveling companion was her husband, Paul J. Ross, who took the photographs for the book; his photo tips are at the end of each section.