During the 1930s, Vincent J. Schaefer of the Mohawk Valley Hiking Club and others developed a plan to connect southern New York hiking trails with the Adirondack hiking trail system through a route named the Long Path, a dream pursued for more than 60 years. Volunteers worked for many years to extend it from the George Washington Bridge north to the Catskill Park to connect with DEC's trail system. In 1991, with the efforts and guidance of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, a Long Path North committee of local volunteers was formed to develop and maintain the path, and on February 5, 1994, the Long Path North Hiking Club was organized to take over construction and maintenance with plans to complete the trail to the Mohawk River. The club grew to more than 200 members and completed its goal of extending the path to the Saratoga County line, while also sponsoring organized hikes in all seasons and participating in outdoor shows and activities. The Long Path runs 357 miles from the 175th Street Subway Station in New York City to John Boyd Thacher State Park, is marked by a 2-by-4-inch aqua blaze, connects many of New York's parks, preserves, and state forest lands, and is maintained by 250 Trail Conference volunteers and member groups. Vincent J. Schaefer named it after Walt Whitman's line about "the long brown path that leads wherever I choose" from "Song of the Open Road." Mary Ann Nissley of Chalfont, Pennsylvania completed the first Long Path through-hike in 25 days, the trail is divided into sections designed as reasonable day walks for fit hikers, and as of 2015, 139 known people had walked all sections and were known as "End to Enders." Through Mine Kill State Park and the New York Power Authority Blenheim-Gilboa Visitor Center, the path passes viewpoints over Schoharie Creek and Blenheim-Gilboa Reservoir, ravines shaded by hemlock and white pine, Mine Kill Falls, and the route north toward Lansing Manor, and in 2015 a footbridge was built there to connect the trail from the park to the Mine Kill Waterfalls.