Raymond. H. Torrey (1880-1938) received the Pugsley Silver Medal in 1938. He was a New York newspaperman, a prolific writer, tireless trailblazer, exuberant hiker and a diplomat. He was born in Georgetown , Massachusetts in 1880. His father was a sea captain and on his father's side, he is related to John Torrey, a noted American botanist. He graduated from high school in 1896 and took jobs with a numbe rof small Massachusetts newspapers. He moved to New York in 1903. There he worked as a reporter, rewrite-man and a night manager establishing himself at the New York Evening Post in 1918. In 1904, Torrey became active in hiking scene. In 1920, Major William Welch ( Pugsley Medal 1934) general manager of the Palisades Interstate Park, recognized the need for a trail network in Bear Mountain Harriman State Parks but lacked funds to build it.
By 1929, Torrey and his fellow enthusiasts had gained the help of New Jersey atate park officials and built an Appalachian Trail section stretching from the Delaware River to High Point, 43 miles of trail running the length of the Kittatinny Range. By 1931, the A. T was open from the Delaware River to Kent, Connecticut, 160 miles of newly created treadway. Torrey had wide scientific knowledge. He died of heart attack in July 1938, stunning the A.T community. No one person can replace him in NY-NJ Trail Conference.Torry had helped blaze the trail in 1922 declaring it had "one of the finest views..in the entire Highlands." The inspection read " In the memory of Raymond H. Torrey, A great disciple of the 'Long Brown Path' 1880-1938.