Fatboy - 1-9-2024 at 10:44 PM
Here it is January of 2024 and it appears I will be heading south to Baja after work on Thursday to try my hand at hiking a small section of the El
Camino Real again.
In January of 2022 I hiked a short, easy section which you can read about here
Then in of January of 2023 I picked up where I left off in 2022 and hiked a few more miles of the El Camino Real, and a few miles that were not part
of the historic path which you can also read about here
2023 was a tough year for me and as of just 2 days ago I didn't even know if i was going to be able to go this year but as of this moment it looks
like a go.
Going off of what i learned last year the first portion of the trip should be pretty straight forward and go by relatively easy.
Last year I had to deal with unknown water sources, quicksand, and multiple trail options when I headed off into desert. Now with some experience on
portions of this section of the ECR I hope to be able to make much better time for the first day or two.
Because the road ends at Los Corrales I will be starting in the same spot as last year and having covered the section from there up to San Sebastian I
hope that sections goes by smoothly and to make good time along there.
If all goes well, then hopefully, I too can cross off a bucket list item in my 60th year much like Paulina did 2 years ago.
We shall see....
[Edited on 1-10-2024 by Fatboy]
David K - 1-10-2024 at 11:38 AM
WE are with you in spirit if not more... and do let us know where you are if you can. An inReach or Spot signal/ message would be a huge relief so we
don't have a repeat of a search (almost) for your body out there! 
Have a super time, John! The Avenza App of the Benchmark Baja Atlas, with the El Camino Real shown (from CaminoRealBaja.com) could be real helpful if
you lose the trail... and with hurricanes and brush growth, that is not at all out of the question.
I am sure you have it all figured out! If I can be of assistance, you got my number!
Fatboy - 1-10-2024 at 09:21 PM
Actually looking forward for this trip, a lot of the anxiety about the trail and water isn't there this year.
The first two trips had a lot of unknowns which resulted in a certain amount stress, not so this year, hopefully that doesn't come back to bite me.
Maderita - 1-11-2024 at 12:35 AM
Have a wonderful adventure. Tough enough to be memorable, yet smooth enough to come back in one piece. Remember to post photos, or "it didn't happen!"
¡Buena Suerte!
Marty Mateo - 1-11-2024 at 04:52 PM
Just read through your previous trip reports , thanks so much for putting them together.
BajaBlanca - 1-12-2024 at 09:32 AM
Have fun!!!
David K - 1-23-2024 at 03:40 PM
I hope all this rain in Baja is not a problem for Fatboy!
David K - 2-24-2024 at 01:42 PM
Just to give an update, Fatboy did return from El Camino Real and has a story that I hope he writes for us.
He isn't sure there may be enough interest... I assured him there are countless lurkers here who don't post that would enjoy his backpacking the 265
year Spanish 'highway' report!
Fatboy - 4-18-2024 at 08:48 PM
Thanks everyone,
While I certainly had fun and adventures on this years hike, it just doesn't lend itself to being a story to be told.
8 or 9 years ago me and my daughter spent a week kayaking down the lower Sacramento river from below Red Bluff to Antioch in the delta and we had
all kinds of adventures over the week but I hardly ever talk about because .....????? ..... because it is hard to describe some moments and because
the trip ended on such a horrible note.
While this trip ended well, it is also hard to convey what it was like in words.
I did write something up a couple of months ago, but I scrapped it.
I did try again today and did post a pretty lousy start HERE
[Edited on 4-19-2024 by Fatboy]