阿巴拉契亚国家步道,新泽西州斯托克斯州立森林 The Appalachian Trail in Stokes State Forest, New Jersey (© Frank DeBonis/Getty Images)

阿巴拉契亚国家步道,新泽西州斯托克斯州立森林 The Appalachian Trail in Stokes State Forest, New Jersey (© Frank DeBonis/Getty Images)

A storied trail marks a century

This is but a tiny portion of what's often called the longest hiking-only trail in the world. Today we're in Stokes State Forest along the top edge of New Jersey and those tell-tale two-by-six-inch white blazes tell us that we're on the famous Appalachian Trail (the 'AT' to those in the know). And what a day to be here, for July 8, 2021, is the trail's 100th birthday.

It was 100 years ago today that the trail was first conceived by a Connecticut forester named Benton MacKaye. MacKaye wanted to connect a series of farms and wilderness study camps across many states, and he liked the idea that the trail would be accessible to many via the towns and roads it would pass by. After more than a decade of work, the AT was completed in 1937 and currently stretches 2,190 miles (give or take a few) from Georgia to Maine and 12 states in between. Today we raise a birthday toast to 100 years of hiking and the millions of people from all over the world who have trekked at least a portion of these trails. Cheers!

一条传说中的小径标志着一个世纪

这只是世界上最长的徒步旅行路线的一小部分。今天，我们来到了位于新泽西州顶端边缘的斯托克斯州立森林，那些2×6英寸的白色火焰告诉我们，我们在著名的阿巴拉契亚小径上（对知情者来说是“AT”）。2021年7月8日是小径的100岁生日，这是多么美好的一天啊。

100年前的今天，康涅狄格州一位名叫本顿·麦凯的森林学家首次构思了这条小径。麦凯想把许多州的一系列农场和荒野研究营地连接起来，他喜欢这样的想法，即这条小径可以通过它经过的城镇和道路让很多人都能到达。经过十多年的努力，AT于1937年完工，目前从乔治亚州到缅因州以及其间的12个州绵延2190英里（大概几英里）。今天，我们为100年的徒步旅行和来自世界各地的数百万人举杯祝酒，他们至少跋涉过这些小径的一部分。干杯！