Volcanic Ridge – July 3-4, 2025
I didn’t want to do an extended trip over the holiday weekend so I instead set a lofty goal for a quick overnight trip to Volcanic Ridge. I first visited this place in 2018 where I missed sunrise from the summit by half an hour. I had come back last summer to properly catch the sunrise but extraordinarily high winds in excess of 50 mph forced me to abandon my summit bid. This year, despite more windy weather, I was finally able to not just catch the summit sunrise but also photograph the Milky Way.
The Devil’s Postpile trailhead is located on Red’s Meadow Road which only allows personal vehicles between 7 PM and 7 AM. Outside of those hours, a shuttle bus is required to reduce vehicle traffic on the road. I took my car through the entrance gate at 6:50 AM, not because I wanted an early start but because having my car at the end of a long hike is preferable to the shuttle (fresh change of clothes, food, deodorant, all comforts I need at the end of a hike, not to mention I have some minor anxiety about getting on a packed bus smelling awful after backpacking for several days).
I napped for a couple of hours in my car before heading off on the trail at 9 AM. My pack was 35 lbs. on this particular trip, much more than usual. I purposely packed multiple heavy lenses both so I could use them more in the field and because I’m trying to prepare for another trip to Ionian Basin at the end of the month. This meant it took me about five and a half hours (with lots of long breaks) to get to Minaret Lake. Once closer to the lake, clouds started to intermittently fill the sky. I knew thunderstorms were a possibility in the afternoon and debated whether to stay put at the lake until it passed or risk ascending higher.
Eventually, it seemed like the storms would miss me so I started up the grassy and surprisingly brushy slopes towards Volcanic Ridge. The wind here was ferocious and I had to switch to long pants and add a mid-layer over my sun hoodie. The only saving grace was that an unexpected large grove of stunted trees protected my bivy site from the wind almost entirely. The trees grew sideways out of the ground likely due to consistent winds that are funneled through the saddle.
After dinner, I planned to head up to the summit – some 500 ft above me – to take some blue hour shots and scope out the route while there was still some daylight. I planned to then come back for Milky Way shots at night and then again for sunrise, but the intense winds up top caused me to change plans: I’d come up for astrophotography later in the evening and then just cowboy camp somewhere on the summit to minimize how much hiking I’d have to do in the dark, cold wind. There were clouds hovering over the Minarets and and Ritter that I hoped would dissipate by night.
When I awoke at 2 AM, the stars over my bivy site seemed promising but my heart dropped when I got to the summit and saw the Minarets under dark clouds. Miraculously – maybe because I’ve paid my dues with how poorly my last two attempts at photography have been from the summit – the clouds began to part as I set up my tripod and star tracker. I was able to take two-minute exposures with the tracker for the most part, but some shots came out blurry that I think was due to the wind rather than tracker misalignment. A strong gust even blew my entire tripod over (thankfully towards me and away from the cliff edge).
I spent the better part of an hour taking photos of the Milky Way before retreating to a relatively sheltered spot just below the summit. I wish I could say I got some sleep here but it was too cold and I mostly passed the time on my phone messaging east coast friends. Eventually, the skies began to brighten and I made my way back to the summit. I find that the anticipation of sunrise is one of the absolute best parts of alpine outings. There were some clouds in the far east towards the Nevada stateline, but once the sun rose over them the light show was sublime. My mood even improved once I warmed up a bit.
Back at camp, I decided to sleep some more. I likely wouldn’t be getting back to the trailhead until mid-late afternoon anyway, so my plan was to start the drive home in the evening and avoid the worst of the holiday traffic through Yosemite. I didn’t leave my bivy site until 10:30 and was back at the car by 4 PM. Yesterday, I was the only one on the trail and at Minaret Lake once I peeled off from the JMT. Today was busier but still surprisingly muted for a holiday weekend. The cool temperatures and strong wind kept me energized and I ended this trip in spectacular form.
–Justin
