Wow, sounds like you had a great time. You did all the right preparation and it paid off. Sounds like you were the strongest hiker in the group.

The White mountains are said to be one of the harder parts of the Appalachian trail. You really can't escape elevation changes and have a great hike.

If you want non-technical, beautiful scenary and not a lot of people, the Colorado Trail is a great choice. I'm a little biased though as I live in Colorado.