Mecca and the Soul Brother(s) Rocky Mountain Jeep Trip 2020 - Itinerary

There are a number of things I find less than ideal about living in MN - but, the proximity to mountains is probably one of the more significant issues.  It's probably 11 hours minimum to any mountains (Badlands, SD)  Anyhow, that.. is not the point of this post (but... it kind of is).

Preamble:  while living in DC (and miserable) I happened to watch Long Way Round which chronicled the adventures of Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor as they took the viewers on a journey of the different phases involved for a "round the world" motorcycle adventure - from concept and planning to execution of the plan.

I then decided that *I* wanted to travel and have adventures on my motorcycle.  However, since I am NOT a celebrity (outside of my own mind) I actually have to maintain a full time job to get by (a job, which I love, I must add).  

Through the planning of moving back to the midwest, I somehow managed to get my buddy Nate interested in Adventure Motorcycling - and after that, we were essentially as closely re-enacting Charley and Ewen's adventures, while still having jobs.
In the fall of 2018 - we had some mishaps and the dream was modified.  We shifted from BMW GS Adventure Motorcycles to Jeep Wranglers - specifically the Rubicon (the Jeep equivalent of the "Adventure" model of the GS).

On to the story...

During the Summer of 2020 we are embarking on our 4th deployment to the Rocky Mountains.  This year we have opted to head down to NM and then travel north via the Continental Divide Trail.

TL;DR:  Heading from Minneapolis to Souther New Mexico
Taking the CDT (CDTR/BDR?) trail to mid-CO
Taking the TAT to the Telluride area
Heading up to Moab
Stop in Grand Junction
Take the CDT from Silverthorne, CO to Rawlins, WY
Head to Custer and Spearfish, SD

References:

Navigation

I am using GAIA GPS (Premium)

Lenovo Tab M8 FHD
Google Earth (and Maps)

Planning

GPSKevin Adventuring (I discovered this site when researching for the Motorcycles)
venture4WD (aka Chris Shontz)

http://bigdogadventures.com/

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/santafe/recarea/?recid=75756

https://www.transamtrail.com/

https://ridebdr.com/NMBDR

http://www.gpskevinadventurerides.com/

https://utah.com/atv/moab-offroad-trails

https://www.uncovercolorado.com/ghost-towns/

https://www.colorado.com/articles/30-colorado-hot-springs-quick-guide

https://continentaldividetrail.org/explore-by-state/colorado/