Ultra Beast and Beyond: Elevation Synonymous With Toughness?

Today's long(ish) run was another section of the Appalachian Trail that I haven't touched yet. This added to a few of the of the many "lists" that I spoke about a few weeks ago. Today:

-Elongated my section run of the A.T.

-Added the NJ High Point

-Bolstered the Heat Map & added a couple of CR's

https://www.strava.com/activities/925645019

This workout had me thinking of a public conversation with my 2X Spartan Ultra Brother Todd Gothberg on Facebook. We talked about a blog post that discussed the "toughest" sections of the A.T. Naturally, I assume that the New Hampshire Presidential range or the Mahoosuc Notch area of Maine must be the hardest sections based on elevation, and more dramatic weather (Mount Washington today is 60+ MPH winds with a chill 20 degrees below zero according to MWOBS). Does that make these sections the toughest? I can't speak on the matter short of an opinion because I probably have less than 200 A/T miles on my legs, but I do think New England is the toughest, because the terrain is also incredibly technical (again, from my own minimal experience). Today's run had me questioning what others thought on this topic. What do you think?

Current status of NJ/PA Appalachian Trail

NJ/PA

Over the last year or so I have been taking advantage of my Fort Dix assignment, and driving out to the nearest mountain range, the Kittatinny Range. While the views and overall elevation change are negligible the terrain is extremely frustrating. Speaking as a trail runner, the constant rock garden of bowling ball sized jagged rock coupled with the spring time running water make this section underrated on toughness in my opinion. Carrying any sort of speed here is just plain reckless. I think that this area of the A.T shouldn't be taken lightly, and is a formidable warm up to the New York and New England sections.

Obligatory feet up picture atop NJ's Highest Point

The trails were pretty crowded today since it was such a nice day, so I opted to return to my truck on the "Iris" trail in High Point State Park rather than do a double "out and back". The Iris trail was much less technical and the overall vertical gain was insignificant. The return run was a welcome break from the ankle twisting A.T.

Today's route including the gentle return loop on the Iris Trail

Reach The Beach (The Budget Edition)

In keeping with the tradition of creative ways to get me off the treadmill, I have been slowly completing short "out and back" runs in an attempt to link Long Beach Island to my heat map. Stay tuned for more on that, as I just got to Barnegat, NJ.

https://www.strava.com/activities/923588088