Overlanding Across Colorado, 5 Tips For Using Instagram to Help Plan Your Adventure
/One of my favorite ways to research road trips, be it a day trip to the woods or something more epic is searching Instagram. Crowd-sourced content can reach all the spots — Colorado has hundreds of off-road and overlanding routes — you're not going to be able to read about them all in a Colorado camping guide or books describing everything you might come across.
Look to the many wonderful folks in the Colorado overlanding community to help you plan your trip. Make sure to give them a like or a follow if they grab your attention.
5 tips to help mine crowd-sourced content on Instagram while you plan adventures:
Pay attention to the photo post date to see what the weather might have looked like during the time frame you'd be venturing out. Colorado's weather can be drastic, but the overall averages of rainfall and temps can more constant. For example, if the photo is from March and there is snow on the ground, like a whole lot, then maybe expect heavy mud in a few months as you plan a date. Or plan to be cold if you go in March.
See if the photo is geotagged or tagged on the map; that should give you a good idea of where they might have camped or the surroundings.
Do you have a view from your rooftop tent?
What kind of vehicle are they in? Is it a tricked-out Jeep that looks like it took a beating getting to camp? Then maybe you're competent enough but lacking ground clearance Grand Cherokee might not make it. Don't be fooled; you don't always need a monster truck to get you out there but understand your limits.
Gear is cool and all, but we all know that food makes an adventure fun or a forced march. I love to see what folks are cooking out there—getting hungry thinking about it.
