Mostly sunny, with a high near 72, though it’s currently in the low 60s as I arrive at 0600 at Mount Holyoke Range State Park in Holyoke, Massachusetts. A large parking area (free at the time of this post) can be located along Route 47 at the Notch Visitor’s Center, restrooms may be found here too during open hours. There are no water sources along the trail, so you will need to carry your water. The white blazed trail is will marked as the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail (114 miles) and the New England Trail (235 miles) merge along this section in Mount Holyoke Range State Park.
The Seven Sisters Ridge is a series of basalt ridgeline knobs between Mount Holyoke (940’) and Mount Bare (1,010’), offering scenic views of the Connecticut River and the Pioneer Valley. The moderately challenging trail ranges from packed dirt to rock scrambles, passing broken shale, with constant elevation changes and occasional steep slopes. Throughout the entire trail, American Giant Millipedes could be spotted all over the trail and along the trunks of trees. They must climb out onto branches and sometimes fall, because one landed on me from above.
Basalt is a fine-grained volcanic rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron. Mount Holyoke took shape near the close of the Triassic Period (252 to 201 million years ago), when the North American continent began to pull away from Africa and Eurasia. Molten lava surged up through the widening rift, cooling into vast layers of rock hundreds of feet thick. Over time, shifting faults and earthquakes tilted, sculpting the cliffs and ridgelines.
The Summit House is where most gather, the former hotel turned museum, located atop Mount Holyoke. There are picnic tables with grills scattered around, a gazebo, and multiple viewpoints. Initially built as a guest cabin in 1821, it became one of the first New England summit houses. In 1851 after changing ownership multiple times, the dwelling was expanded to a two-story hotel. A tram, outbuildings, and a railroad connecting the base of the mountain to a dock along the Connecticut River were then built in subsequent years.
The annex received substantial damage during the Great Hurricane of 1938, resulting in its demolition. The last hotel owner would donate the hotel and property to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for a state park the following year. A few years later, the tramway broke down, then was damaged by a snowstorm. It was demolished in 1965, with a roadway being the more popular way to get to the top. During the 1970s, the hotel itself was proposed to be demolished, but this led to public outcry. The original 1851 structure was restored in the mid-1980s by the state and the local community. It’s open in the summertime as a museum.
While wandering around the area surrounding the Summit House, I was able to locate a more private nook along the cliff and treeline. With a few trees nearby and a wonderful view, I was able to catch appearances from several birds, such as the Indigo Bunting, Worm-Eating Warbler, and the Common Crow.
