7.2 mile hike (my most challenging to date) on the AT through the white mountains of NH. Rock climbing was not what I had in mind that day, but that is what the mountain served and i had no choice. On this 5 hour hike I met AT hikers doing the entire 2180 miles which most started in March. I met Strawberry lightning, Thrift shop and Ghost. These are their AT names or trail names. You are given a trail name by another hiker during your 6 or 7 month journey. I also met a hiker named Helen (real name). Helen is only three years younger than me, but Helen is a hiking machine. I gave it everything I had just to keep up (which I did, but barely). She made seventy and eighty degree rock climbing look effortless. Helen’s trail name is now Mountain goat. Maybe one day I will be given a trail name.