Tips on bikepacking the Kokopelli?

Thanks for the tips and for the gpx, we finished up just over a week ago and had a great time. On the way to Moab, we did have to divert down the highway to town from Dewey bridge due to a couple of reasons. One, we clogged our filters on the Colorado, despite wrapping the pre-filters with coffee filters, just too silty. Two, our race shoes, sidis, were getting destroyed from the rock hike a bike sections and we wanted to get new treads for them before continuing, both of ours were already a little worn before the start, but thought they could make it.
Once we got to Moab, we both ended up buying some more suitable hike a bike shoes and shipping back a small package home, as no one in town carried sidis or parts for them. We also picked up some sage advice about filtering off the Colorado, got some 1 gallon water jugs, empty, to strap on to the bike to settle water, and some Alum spice to add to the river water to get it to settle faster.
The way back went way smoother with new shoes and the jugs.
It was brutal hot during the day, but we managed.
It took us 3.5 days of riding to do it the way we did, 260 miles with 35 on the highway. As a bonus, we got to ride along the canyon along the Colorado river at sunset/ dusk with some great views. We planned for 4.5 days, starting at 6 the first day and made it just short of Westwater that night, but the detour got us to town a day early, so we decided to hang at the hotel pool for a day of rest.
I'll try to type a more involved trip report later, but for now, thanks for the help!