There are two trailheads to access the Minarets, both about eight miles distance to the base of the Minarets on good trails. Both are located along SR203, west of Mammoth Mtn resort in the town of Mammoth Lakes. From US395, drive west through Mammoth Lakes on SR203, turning right at the second traffic light. Drive three miles up to the main lodge of Mammoth Mtn ski/bike resort. Depending on the time of day, you must either take a shuttle bus from this point or you may be able to drive further if you are there early in the morning or late in the evening. See the Red Tape section for more info. Agnew Meadows is the more scenic of the two approaches. Minarets in The Mountains, the first non-fiction account by a Muslim writer on this subject, explores the historical roots of the current tide of Islamophobia. Tharik and his family learn lessons about themselves and their own identity as Britons, Europeans, and Muslims. Following in the footsteps of renowned Ottoman traveller Evliya Celebi, they remind us that Europe is as Muslim as it is Christian, Jewish or pagan. Dr Sadek Hamid is an academic who has written widely about British Muslims. He is the author of Sufis, Salafis and Islamists: The Contested Ground of British Islamic Activism.

I’d come to Gjirokastër as part of a family road trip to seek out Europe’s living indigenous Muslim presence and to follow in Evliya’s footsteps. I was hoping to see this part of the continent as he did, when it really was Muslim Europe – under Ottoman rule at the height of the empire’s powers. Minarets in the Mountains is a travel narrative, but it is also a book about the author himself. Bangladesh born Tharik grew up in 1980’s East London, where he faced his own challenges as an immigrant during a time in which racism and xenophobia was on the rise. The book explores the historic roots of Islamophobia in Europe, as the author grapples with his multi-faceted identity, and considers where he and his mixed race Muslim family (Tharik’s wife, Tamara,is English), fit into modern Europe. In this context, visiting indigenous Muslim communities, who are a part of Europe’s very fabric, becomes more pertinent.

What might otherwise have been a fairly dry description of buildings, dates and historical facts is rescued by his warm interactions with locals and the inclusion of his travelling companions: his wife and two daughters. The girls ensure that, alongside minarets, caravanserais and Tekkes, we’re treated to explorations of swimming spots and art galleries, which the book is all the richer for. They have a particular preoccupation with street food – pides, pizzas, kofte and ice cream all play starring roles – meaning the reader is given a taste of local life as we explore the beauty of the region. Criterion (ii): The innovative architecture and decoration of the Minaret of Jam played a significant role in the development of the arts and architecture of the Indian sub-continent and beyond. Niš is now a modern metropolis and described as “…an orthodox town, with only the faintest whiff of its lengthy Muslim heritage.” Nevertheless, it turned out to be as full of Ottoman history as elsewhere, but there are now pedestrian zones, malls, and shopping centers. There’s a sufficiency of monuments, as well as a fortress of the 1st century AD covering 22 acres of parkland. There were additions to the architecture and plaques confirming 18th century Ottoman origins.

Tharik Hussain comes upon a Europe that would be unrecognisable to most of us who call the continent home. He found towns where “everything was halal” and the sound of the Muslim call to prayer is as normal as the ringing of church bells. This was not the constructed Europe found in books on politics and philosophy that tries to make the case for co-existence. The Europe he discovered is “organic” and “natural”; not just existing, but also flourishing with the confidence of that which is anchored deeply and proud. Jensen Minaret - 11,760ft, class 5.4-5.8 Four pitches of loose 5.7-5.8 climbing from North Notch. NE Face is 5.4 via the right-hand chimney. Repairing the social fracture in our times is a more difficult challenge that requires rediscovery and reconciliation of our shared past and rethinking an expansive definition of what it means to be European in the 21st Century. Much of the book has to do with descriptions of the architectural remnants of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans, the centuries-old mosques, hamams and medresas of Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro. Hussain brings in a human element, talking to imams and worshippers, while “bowing down to God beside Europe’s indigenous Muslims”.Their empire was short-lived. In 1199, people rioted in Firuzkuh, protesting the sultan Ghiyath al-Din’s conversion from a conservative sect to a more moderate strain of Islam. Ghiyath al-Din then moved the capital from Firuzkuh to Herat, where he rebuilt a magnificent mosque, parts of which still stand. But the end was near. In 1215, as political tensions threatened to tear the empire apart, a Turkic people known as the Khwarazmians descended on the fast-disintegrating state. In the Ghurid heartland, the Khwarazmians held sway for less than a decade. By 1222, the armies of Genghis Khan had penetrated the remote mountain fastness of Firuzkuh and destroyed the onetime Ghurid capital, leaving the Minaret of Jam as a solitary testament to the reign of the Ghurid sultans. His love and gentleness towards his wife and daughters made this book even more pleasing. His descriptions about sunni, shiah and sufism was non-divisive and non-judgmental, which led to a peaceful reading (he's sunni Muslim, in case you're wondering). Disassociating cultural accomplishments from their indigenous Muslim heritage is intended to erase the right of Muslim Europeans to exist today and a well-known tactic of Islamophobes and fascists that continues to this day. During the war, Croat paramilitary forces literally blew up the Mostar of the bridge in November 1993, yet this did not prevent it from being rebuilt in 2004 by a team of people passionate about maintaining Ottoman monuments with the support of UNESCO, European Bank and others. A magical, eye-opening account of a journey into a Europe that rarely makes the news and is in danger of being erased altogether. Another Europe. A Europe few people believe exists and many wish didn't. Muslim Europe. Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2021. Dyer Minaret - 11,680ft, class 5.6 This is the most difficult of the minarets. The NW Face is 5.6, the East Face is 5.7. Both routes start from North Notch.

Dawson Minaret - 11,920ft, class 5 A complicated climb from North Notch. See Secor's description for details. During this session, Tharik Hussain takes us on the journey that led to this, his debut bestselling book 'Minarets in the Mountains' which was Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction and shortlisted for the Stanfords Dolman Travel Book of the Year.Tharik is an author, travel writer and journalist specialising in Muslim heritage and culture. His debut book was named a Book of the Year by the New Statesman, Prospect Magazine and the Times Literary Supplement, and a Travel Book of the Year by The Washington Post and Newsweek. He has also written Lonely Planet guidebooks on Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Thailand, London and Britain, and developed Britain’s very first Muslim heritage trails in Woking, Surrey. There are a number of passes that cross the Minarets, all of which can be used to gain access to the Minaret of choice. Most of the north or northeast sides of these passes have snow year-round and crampons/axe are advised. Most of these passes are class 2, without significant route-finding issues. What makes this book unique is that it is written from the perspective of a Muslim in England, writing about “what is generally seen as a white person’s territory”. Hussain’s book is the first account of the Balkans from a Western Muslim, maybe the first since Evilya Çelebi.Minarets in the Mountains covers much of the ground I myself treaded in my many Balkan forays, by foot, bike, bus and train, beginning in 2003 and lasting till 2018. As with Hussain, the Balkans meant a lot to me, allowing me get over my prejudices, phobias and hangups, helping me to avoid the racist and nationalistic pitfalls; it also led me to Islam. Roper, Steve (1976). The Climber's Guide to the High Sierra. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. p.337. ISBN 978-0871561473. Alsup, William (2001). Missing in the Minarets: The Search for Walter A. Starr, Jr. El Portal California: The Yosemite Association. pp. 105-107+116. ISBN 978-1-930238-18-3. There are 17 minarets that have been named after one of the first ascensionists (in a few cases a person from the second ascent to avoid duplication). While both Ritter and Banner were climbed in the 19th century, the Minarets did not see activity until the 1920's. Charles Michael, a Yosemite postmaster, along with his wife Enid were the first to record an ascent in 1923 of Michael Minaret. Over the next ten years most of the remaining minarets were climbed by various parties involving many of the famous climbers of the era, including Norman Clyde, Walter Starr, Jules Eichorn and Glen Dawson, among others. In 1948, Dyer Minaret was the last (and most difficult) of the group to be climbed. In 1933, Walter Starr's son went missing on a solo trip to the area. An intense search ensued, culminating in the discovery of his fallen body high on the slopes of Michael Minaret. His body was interred where it lay, and still rests there to this day. What did it all mean? Perhaps historically it was meaningless as far as our inclinations for war are concerned. The war had come and gone. Bosnia and Herzegovina were disputed on all sides and abused when the former Yugoslavia splintered. The Bozniak Muslim population was cornered and fired upon from the heights surrounding the city. It was horrible. It is always devastatingly horrible. We should hang our heads in shame. In fact, we saw a book titled Shame On You Europe. It seemed pointless to buy the book. There are many ambitious forces in the world, and ambition, geopolitically, seems to have led to war.