The "journey of the dead man", a 90 miles stretch of the Camino Real usually traversed in two days and one night with but a short pause at the heat of the day. The only water available was in intermittent playas that would useful for a few days after rainfall. The description below is from Eugene Manlove Rhodes in his novel "Stepsons of Light"

"The Jornada is a high desert of tableland, east of the Rio Grande. In design it is strikingly like a billiard table; forty-five miles by ninety, with mountain ranges for rail at east and west, broken highlands on the south, a lava bed on the north. At the middle of each rail and at each corner, for pockets, there is a mountain passway and water; there are peaks and landmarks for each diamond on the rail; for the center and for each spot there is a railroad station and water--Lava, Engle and Upham. Roughly speaking there is road or trail from each spot to each pocket, each spot to each spot, each pocket to every other pocket. In the center, where you put the pin at pin pool, stands Engle."