Amherst In Autumn
Photograph taken from Bear Mountain in the Holyoke Range
The Holyoke Range is a great place to hike, year round. The trail network criss-crosses seven mountains, aka The Seven Sisters. If you want to beat yourself up, you can follow the M&M trail across all seven mountains in one day. The mountains in the range are not very high, however the over 12 mile hike up and down all seven is very physically taxing. I did the hike last summer. My only complaint was that we did not leave early enough in the day. Toward the end I was starting to get worried that we would have to navigate back to the car in the dark. I was also worried that I would never see the car ever again. Completing the hike generated such a euphoria. It was solidified on the ride home when I saw the entire range in the distance and thought “I walked over that”. I plan to do the Seven Sisters hike again very soon. This time around, I plan to wake at the crack of dawn and take my sweet time stumbling through the Holyoke Range.