The trail climbed gently and pleasantly through forest and open meadow,
with an occasional view W toward Mt. Ashland,
then along an open ridge for our first close view of our objective,
until we reached the junction with the "short" trail after about 4 mi.
The trail (what the BLM calls a "social trail") to the Rock starts shortly after this sign. It's a very good trail (social or otherwise) - being wider than the PCT at the beginning and having it's upper reaches well graded and buttressed with little rock walls. A very easy way to gain a few hundred feet!
The social trail took us to the base of the summit chute, which looks intimidating but is pretty straightforward - just hug the left wall and don't get seduced into following the big ledge to the right, as it leads to a cliff.
The slightly tricky parts were a chimney and a chockstone right at the start of the chute.
But after some moves over good handholds and footholds, we were past these obstacles,
and on our way along the sweeping basalt columns to the summit (which reminded us of Devil's Tower).
We popped on to the top on what was a gorgeous, bluebird day - with Mt. McLoughlin on the horizon -
and with big views all around (sadly, the snow of the peaks in the background is a fraction of what it's supposed to be and we'd be willing to trade a bluebird day or two for a good blizzard).
To the W, Mt. Ashland (a) and Wagner Butte (wb),
to the E, Soda Mtn (s) and Boccard Point (bp),
and to the S, Mt. Shasta.
After soaking in the views and some sun, we scrambled down to the PCT, had a quick snack, and headed back to the TH. Along the way, there was one spot where we could look back and see our route up the Rock (arrows).
After that, we ambled back to the TH along open ridges
and through forested meadows.
A really nice little hike (9.5 mi RT, 1500' EG) combined with a fun 3rd class scramble and huge views!
OK, we're good on sunshine for the moment so feel free to start the snow machine. Yep, no worries, just bring on a blizzard (or two). Why should New England have all the fun?
What's more is we didn't see any wilderness signs. The only place we saw any indication that this was a wilderness was on the very bottom text of the "Peregrine Falcon Nesting Area Ahead" sign (we also have the same picture of this sign 
). It appears that this beautiful place is quite popular, but a Wilderness designation typically indicates that they shutdown all motorized access in order to keep it pristine. Have you heard anything about any BLM plans, or is this the new paradigm for wilderness, since it was designated in 2009? Perhaps the BLM is just out of funds for executing the Wilderness designation? Thanks for posting!
