After several hikes with my wife on different trails that led to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, it seemed like there should be a worthwhile hike on this side of the pond. To be a contender for an urban type hike, it would need to have:
A clear starting and ending point.
Points of interest that would make the hike unique.
Places to stay (campgrounds, hostels, motels) within a reasonable day's hike of each other, and
Places to eat or buy food along the way to avoid an excessively heavy backpack.Mission San Diego De Alcala (Photo credit: mikol_ice)
The only real alternative seemed to be California's 21 old Spanish missions along the El Camino Real. Although I thought it would be as easy as finding someone's blog and retracing their steps, it soon appeared that no one had done this hike in recent history. After three or four months of Googling, reading, quizzing people, driving, bicycling and walking, I finally plotted a walking route that seemed do-able from San Diego to Sonoma, a total of about 800 miles.
My wife, Sandy, and I had met an Italian pilgrim, Beppe Sala, while hiking in Spain. He thought it sounded like a worthwhile adventure also, so he flew to L.A. to join us. Finally, in early March of 2011, Beppe, my wife and I headed north from San Diego to rediscover life on El Camino Real.
Pacific surfliner poster (Photo credit: Loco Steve)
Taking the Iron Horse on the Mission Trail.
Even Father Junipero probably didn't really WALK the whole way, but rode a horse or a mule. If you don't have a mule handy, and don't have the sole of Junipero--take the train! We won't tell.
If you do want to walk it, check out Ron Briery's maps of the entire route as he did it.
1.Mission San Diego de Alcalá (1769): 10818 San Diego Mission Rd., San Diego, 92108-2429, (619) 281-8449. Pacific Surfliner(San Diego)
2.Mission San Carlos Borremeo de Carmelo(1770); 3080 Rio Rd., Carmel, 93923, (831) 624-3600. Coast Starlight (Salinas)
3.Mission San Antonio de Padua(1771); Mission Creek Rd., Jolon, 93928, (831) 385-4478 (40 miles north of Paso Robles—Coast Starlight (Paso Robles)
Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma (Photo credit: Larry Myhre)
San Rafael to S.F. Solano de Sonoma
(Leg #20: Days #53 & 54)
These maps follow the route described in:
CALIFORNIA MISSION WALK: A Hiker's Guide to California's 21 Missions along El Camino Real.
by Ron Briery
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For the most part, this last leg was a nice pleasant stroll through rolling hills and small towns. The last day, however, was probably the scariest day of the whole trek. It was raining and we had to cross a long bridge on a narrow highway, later followed by narrow, curvy roads with no shoulders.
Mission San Francisco de Asis (Dolores), 320 Dolores St, San Francisco. Photographed from the median of Dolores St. between 16th and 17th Sts. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
San Jose to Dolores and San Francisco de Asisi
(Leg #18: Days 49-51) These maps follow the route described in:
CALIFORNIA MISSION WALK: A Hiker's Guide to California's 21 Missions along El Camino Real. by Ron Briery
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The trek from Mission San Jose on to the ferry terminal follows main roads through some relatively seedy places. However, since we were on main roads in the middle of the day, we didn't see a problem. I had assumed that the ferry service was an all-day schedule. Wrong assumption!
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Mission San Diego De Alcala (Photo credit: mikol_ice) 
