@Udink, thanks so much for the great info and photos. I just read through the full trip report and found it very helpful. Your photos are terrific - I really hope we get similar weather so I can enjoy the same gorgeous reflections!
Thank you, @James and Amy, for offering the gpx; yes, I would appreciate that very much so I can compare it to what I've got so far. I'm guessing it's the same route. In the river atlas I'm using, here are the map and description:
Thanks so much. Yes, it's very useful; a lot of it is the same or quite close to what I had drawn on my map based on the RiverMaps route. I notice that you made a little detour to the northeast, I assume to explore the rocks and cliff there. Was there something in particular you were looking for? Or was that just a bit of extra exploration? I'm not sure how much time we'll have, so perhaps we won't be able to do anything extra, but I'm just curious.
Thanks - I'll be eager to check it out.
I think this hike is one of the best things to see along that stretch of river--even if you only see the burned cabin location. I'm sure the hike to the confluence view is also well worth it. Definitely stop at Turk's Head to see the ruins there, and stop at Valentine Bottom to see the pictographs (and there are a lot of ruins I think just upstream of there).
We're planning to spend 2 nights at Spanish Bottom so we can do a full-day hike up to the Doll House and beyond, ideally as far as the Harvest Scene but that's probably too ambitious a goal. We've got 4 full days on the river and hopefully will get to lots of places along the way. Fingers crossed for good weather! We've never hiked Dead Horse State Park and think we'll be there the day before we put in. I'm sure we'll have lots of unfinished business for a future trip...
Harvest scene from Spanish Bottom and back in a day would be a long hike. Quick check on Caltopo shows it would be roughly 16-17 miles round trip via Chimney Rock. The hiking isn't crazy hard (I've covered that ground during a backpacking trip) but it's not a trivial hike either. Water sources could be an issue also.
Yeah, I know - I have a feeling it's do-able even if we don't end up doing it. Maybe if the weather's good and we're not tired the night before we'll plan to get up before dawn and move quickly. We would bring a gallon of water or more per person, plenty of snacks, and headlamps. But if we don't do that, I'm sure we'll still want to do a full day up there and explore beyond the Doll House. I'm looking forward to that no matter what.
Funny - I'm rereading relevant parts of Kelsey's book and just came across this: "Most people who call themselves hikers could probably make it to the Harvest Scene pictograph panel in the lower end of Pictograph Fork and back to the river in one day." He has thrown down the gauntlet for me!