Seven Sisters

Adventure Name: Seven Sisters

Dated: Nov 15 2019

Talal’s take

The latest adventure of western mass outdoors club was at the seven sisters. The 7 Sisters Trail is a a 6 mile one-way hike that runs along the ridge of the Holyoke Range in Massachusetts from Mount Holyoke to the Notch. The sisters are a series of basalt ridgeline knobs between Mount Hitchcock and Mount Holyoke. Basalt is a type of volcanic rock that makes the seven sisters and the highest sister has an elevation of 1005 feet.

We had planned this hike on our last trip to Mount Mansfield. Fall had come and gone in new England. The trees stood naked and the wind chill warned of old man winter slumbering along to engulf the valley. We had been forewarned by our planning executive, Zubair Bhai to be prepared for the harsh conditions. Everybody was ready on the day of the hike which turned out to be cold but beautiful and sunny.

I met up with Zubair bhai, qasim, and Shaukat at the mosque. The fajar prayers were led by the spiritual Sheikh Wissam who just returned from a sabbatical in Lebanon. Quenching our spiritual thirst with his melodious reading of Quran, we enjoyed a festive breakfast made by our brothers at Islamic Society of western Massachusetts. Feasting on eggs, french toast and tea, we thanked Allah for the opportunity and than started out to our rendezvous point on 43 Hockanum road in Hadley. We sped on the highway and met the legendary Atif Lala, Fahim liberal kazi and Massih rich Farooqi. Massih Bhai ofcourse camein his Tesla wearing a patriots hat. Fahim who was supposed to come with his better half, showed up without her with lala.

The free spirited habib brothers did not show up to the meeting point and decided to meet us at the Notch Visitor center which is just north of Mount Holyoke. We left most of the cars at Hokanum road in skinner state park and decided to take two cars to the Notch at 1500 west street in Amherst. We met up with Habibs in the parking lot.

The cold air took everybody’s breath away. Eager to start the hike, we were made to wait by Hamid Habib who shows a middle finger to circadian rhythm and normally sleeps at day time. Regardless, we were able to start hiking at 8 :30 am. We got on the trail by crossing the road and than following the white blazes. There is an immediate incline which is steep as we made our way up the first hill which is called Bare mountain and stands at around 1000′.

The cold immediately was felt as several members including myself felt our hands freeze. Zubair Bhai needed to borrow some hand warmers as his $100 plus gloves from REI failed to provide the warmth in early part of the hike. Lala had to borrow $18 gloves from Costco that saved his hands. Shauki gave us a lecture on proper gloves and rightly pointed out the need to pack more than one pair of gloves.

Fahim took an early lead with Shahid and Zahid Bhai. Qasim, showing leadership and mercy stayed with those that were left behind. The hike is mostly up and down as you go from one summit to another. We were on the metacomet- monadnock trail and following the white blaze to the summit house. We would stop at each summit to take pictures and fuel up. There are total of 10 hills including the seven sisters on the trail as you go toward the summit house. Some of the vistas that were particularly impressive were near Mount Hitchcock, that included views of Connecticut river and the pioneer valley. It is named after Edward Hitchcock, a former professor of geology at Amherst college.

Going further, we finally reached near the summit house which has breath taking views. There are great picnic areas and hopefully barbecues for next summer. As we reached there, it was time to offer Zuhar prayer. Shaukat was eager to give Azan and all of us gathered together humbly prostrating in front of Allah. There is something to be said about doing sajda before the Almighty on a top of a mountain. For me, its very emotional as I can sense the divinity all around me. Feeling thankful, we made our way to the beautiful summit house. This was actually a hotel in the nineteenth century which was later shut down and is now a historical building. As we got there, I proudly took out my new REI thermos which had kept the hot cocco that i made at 4 30 am, real warm. We all warmed up with its sweet flavor and than began our descent behind a very much in love couple, to the trail head where our cars were parked.

As we made our way down, a race broke. We decided to do some trail running. There is actually a spring race every spring is which trail runners blaze the trail and run in both direction and have to complete the 12 miles in 5.5 hours. We completed 6 miles, gaining 3600 feet in elevation in about five hours but took mutiple breaks.

Finally, we came to Barstow’s dairy store and bakery for lunch. Set in Longview farm, it is a beautiful spot to get fresh food in a quintessential New England town of Hadley. We all sat together, tired and humbled by the hike and shared a sandwich. Some of us were already planning our next adventure. Sharing this great moment together with a sense of deep gratitude, we said farewell till our next adventure.