This rock holds a special place in my backpacking history. In 1988 I set up my tarp in the small grassy spot near my P1 pack. During the night, a huge thunderstorm marched north across the valley right at me and dumped rain for too long on me and the tarp! The grassy spot turned into a pond, and my dog Toledo had already moved under the rock overhang. So I also moved there and we both watched the lightning storm and rain from the overhang. On the west side, it was painted with "Motel Rock" many decades ago, thus the name and a story too. On this hike, it was my first visit back to Motel Rock in 19 years, and worth the short off-pct trip to see a piece of my history again.