It’s not often my wife let’s me hang out with three lovely sisters in the mountains, but recently she acquiesced.

Of course, she chaperoned.

That turned out to be a good thing because now she understands why I’m in love with them.

The Three Sisters is a trio of 3,000-foot peaks on the northern ridge of Mount Chocorua in the White Mountain National Forest.

Located on the aptly named Middle Sister Trail, the three buxom knobs with distinct personalities serve up outstanding views, particularly of Mount Chocorua’s rocky top spine.

It’s easy for those lovely ladies to not be on many hikers’ radars. Instead Chocorua’s 3,500-foot main peak gets lots of traffic, its glorious ledges an excellent prize for young hikers looking for a first big kind of mountain.

Yet the three sisters are nearly as high and, collectively, the vistas are on par with their popular neighbor.

There’s a big incentive though. You may get the chance to be alone with them (save the wife).

We were.

There are a number of ways to reach the ridge, with the Piper trail (off Route 16 in Albany, N.H.) and Chimney Falls trails (about 10 miles west of Conway on Route 112 a.k.a. the Kancamangus Highway) being the most direct.

Loop lovers can incorporate the clan during a roughly 8-mile journey using the Piper, Nickerson Ledge, Carter Ledge and Middle Sister trails. Carter Ledge Trail is known for its wondrous views and rare, jack pine stands. It also has something of a sinister side courtesy of a steep, gravely slide with poor footing. Traverse that, hike on and then scramble up a section often described as a particularly tricky scramble across a potentially downward sloping ledge.

I wanted to meet the girls, and wanted to look my best when we did.

So we decided on the Champney Falls, Piper, Middle Sister, Champney Falls Cutoff and down Champney Falls for a banjo-style hike of approximatelty 7.5 miles. This way, we visited all three sisters while climbing Middle Sister twice. 

On the eastern edge of the Sandwich Range, the sisters have bare summits. First Sister is the tallest of the bunch at 3,354 feet, followed by Middle Sister at 3,340 feet and Third Sister at 3,320.

Middle Sister has something the other don’t though — the remains of an old stone fire tower complete with steps for sitting.

With only one other vehicle in the parking area in the cool of an early July morning, we had the Champney Falls Trail to ourselves, enjoying its initial ease as a onetime logging road along Champney Brook before it ticks up in intensity after the spur leg to Champney and Pitcher Falls, each featuring switchbacks and wet rock slabs.

After a short burst on Piper, we veered off onto the Middle Sister Trail, with its well-worn yellow blazes. Efforts were soon rewarded as we burst on the first of several ledges, sometimes after benign rock scrambles, to stunning views of mountains and waterways with Chocorua looking something like a shark fin above it all.

From the wondrous top we peered across into a treasure chest of White Mountain scenery with a bounty of 4,000 footers and shimmering waterways like Squam Lake and Ossipee Lake, and eastward into Maine before dipping into the col and soon popping up onto Middle Sister with its tower remains and stellar vistas.

The 10-foot high tower was built in 1927 by a local architect named Charles Howard Walker and remained operational until 1948. It was later used to house radio repeater equipment, now handled by another summit structure. 

Since we knew we’d be back on Middle, we soon left for another col dip and a date with Third Sister. She too had her special qualities with nice vantage points.

Only about a half mile separates the three peaks, so we were soon back on Middle Sister, with its sweet panorama. The shade of the tower stones was a welcome late breakfast spot as a light breeze blew across the blue sky.

From Middle, we found the Champney Falls Cutoff, a tad wet in spots, but also featuring terrific outlooks along a narrow stretch. 

It wasn’t until going back to Champney Falls Trail that we first encountered humanity, which got me thinking about a return date one day with the three sisters. As long as it’s okay with my wife. They are fair and fine. As to which is best, well, tough to say. But you always remember your first, right?

Marty Basch can be reached at mbasch@gmail.com