About

Blue Ridge Hiking Company's Mission

Blue Ridge Hiking Company's mission is to make the wilderness accessible and enjoyable for everyone.  We believe the trail is there for everyone at every phase of life and we welcome all hikers, regardless of their background or ability level.

We strive to provide safe on-trail experience with engaging, knowledgeable, and well-trained guides. We embrace and encourage diversity on the trail and we follow Leave No Trace principles.

All of Blue Ridge Hiking Company's guides are certified in Wilderness First Aid (or higher) and CPR.
 

Our Team

Lindsey Barr, Manager
Lindsey grew up in central North Carolina, where she developed a love for science and the outdoors (and earned her Girl Scout Gold Award). She earned her Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering from NC State University. In 2012, she left her engineering career to follow her dream of helping introduce others to the outdoors in a welcoming and empoweing way. When she isn't at work, you can find her exploring area trails and waterways, dreaming of her next adventure. In addition to hiking and backpacking, she enjoys trail running, paddling, rock climbing, cycling, fly fishing, knitting, and sewing. Lindsey was nominated for the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce's 2020 WomanUp Rising Star Award.

Eli Mills, Assistant Manager
Eli (he/him) grew up in rural Iowa where his love of the outdoors grew from exploring the fields and rivers outside his back door. He moved to Western NC in 2007 and was enchanted by the mountains and people. Between his personal and professional endeavors, Eli has spent about as many nights sleeping under the stars as in a bed over the past 14 years. Eli is a rock climber and runner, and when he is not pursuing life in the outdoors, you'll find him creating delicious foods in his kitchen, usually with a cup of coffee in hand.
 

Melissa Watkins, Admin
Melissa grew up in Florida where she spent many hours watching wildlife and guiding kayak tours. She has also guided many backpacking, canoeing, and rafting trips in Western North Carolina and loves nothing more than sharing the outdoors with new friends. A former college professor, she is an educator at heart. When not at work, she loves to paddle, bake, teach her young son about the outdoors, and bask in the sunshine.

Matt "Gnome" Dobson, Lead Guide
Having moved around the world pursuing other professional interests, Matt has decided Western North Carolina is the place for him and helping to expose others to our natural world is the perfect way to spend his time. Matt has over 12,000 trail miles on his legs, including thru-hikes of the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, John Muir Trail, and Long Trail. He has a Plant Sciences degree from the University of Tennessee and has spent many of his hours in nature studying its science and history.

 

Anna McKinney, Trail-er Caretaker
Anna is a WNC native and grew up camping with her family. In college, Anna guided backpacking and paddling trips through ECU's Adventure Leadership Program. After graduating with a Bachelor's in Child Life, Anna moved back to Asheville and began rediscovering her local trails while working as a child life specialist at the local children's hospital. In 2021, she dropped everything to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. When Anna isn't tending to the Trail-er, she enjoys hiking with her dog, Banjo, and playing the ukulele.
 

Melissa Gibson
Melissa grew up in the quiet marshes of Virginia Beach. She loves walking in the woods and sharing stories with friends old and new, singing spontaneously, and learning about the natural world - expecially forging and native plants. She is an Appalachian Trail section maintainer for Max Patch and it gives her even more appreciation for the trail! A love of travel has taken her to 24 countries, "swamping" on the Colorado River, walking the Camino del Santiago, and to China and Belgium as an expat. Being in the woods makes her feel like a kid again. Come out and play!
 

Lexie "Curls" Lanfrank
Lexie grew up exploring the quaint woods around her home chasing lightning bugs and dodging poison ivy. She rediscovered her love of the mountains in college, leading to her thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2018. Now she wanders forests and climbs mountains since completing her Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Lexie loves connecting people with the mountains she calls home. In her free time, you’ll find her cooking up a storm (or mess), finding hidden swimming holes, and planning her next adventure.
 

Carolyn Lewis
Carolyn grew up in Florida, camping as a kid and always loving the outdoors.  After college, she followed this passion and got a job leading teenagers on remote canoeing expeditions.  A few years ago, she left the gators behind and moved to these mountains to guide backpacking trips.  Carolyn is hoping to share many "mindfulness moments" - and maybe some yoga! - on the trail with you.  Her passions include her yoga practice, her pup named little bear, and her roller skates.

Traci Mohl
Traci grew up fostering a deep love for the outdoors while exploring the forests and creeks of eastern Pennsylvania.  After college, she began guiding trips all over the east coast including canoeing, climbing, and hiking.  Her favorite trails have a diversity of terrain and flora, and you better believe there's a vista or waterfall somewhere!  When she's not hiking, you can find her climbing, paddling, reading a fantasy novel, or participating in combat demonstrations with her Viking-age historical reenactment society.
 

Meredith Prentice
This desert dog rolled up to the Blue Ridge Mountains after spending several years in the diverse ecosystems of the Colorado Plateau and Louisiana wetlands.  She has a BS in Environmental Studies from Northern Arizona University and has participated in ecological research and native seed collection, working multiple seasons as a field botanist and crew leader.  Her favorite pastimes include drawing, identifying plants, reading, exploring nature, and crawfish boils.

Racheal Rafols
Racheal fell in love with the outdoors in Florida, where she led canoe expeditions for over 3 years. Her passion for backpacking ran wild in the Blue Ridge Mountains and she started section hiking the Appalachian trail - completing around 700 miles so far. Spending so much time in the woods, she began learning about plants and mushrooms. In addition to guiding, she sells art locally and is planning on going back to school to become an art therapist. The outdoors are a big inspiration and her biggest learning tool. 
 

Juliet Ramirez
Juliet grew up in Louisiana, where her first outdoor experiences were fishing with her family and watching alligators pop up out of muddy water. After years of guiding whitewater trips in the Smoky Mountains, guiding backpacking trips in Yosemite, and working in wilderness therapy, she is happy to call Asheville home. She loves long hikes, and even more, to take time on trail to relax, swim, enjoy the view, and eat good food. When not hiking, she is baking sourdough, rock climbing, reading, and dancing.
 

Kacie "Foxy" Ross
Kacie grew up playing in the Eno River along what is now a stretch of hte Mountains-to-Sea Trail in Durham, NC. Over the past decade, she has enjoyed teaching and guiding in the outdoors all over the country. Kacie has thru-hiked over 7,000 miles, including the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Te Araroa. Following her passion for wilderness medicine, she has worked as a Wilderness EMT is on the Buncombe County Search and Rescue Squad, and will soon be graduating from Western Carolina University as a Registered Nurse. Kacie loves fun conversation while hiking and finding all the little critters along the way!

Lauren Smucker
Lauren has been exploring Appalachia for over 30 years. Originally a Pennsylvania native, she moved from the Green Mountains of Vermont to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina in 2015. After leading trail building crews with the VYCC, she decided to thru-hike Vermont’s Long Trail twice & the Appalachian Trail. Lauren is a wildland firefighter & a fire starter with a prescribed burn crew here in the Southeast. She also enjoys assembling sculptures using foraged & often forgotten elements from the natural world.
 

Tamera "Caboosy" Trexler
Tamera has traveled and explored in America, Europe, UK, Sweden, Cyprus, Canada, Antarctica, the Galapagos, Falkland Islands, and Tierra Del Fuego. The Mountains of WNC have held a special place in her heart for 30 years. Hiking and Backpacking are her favorite ways to explore, as well as mountain biking and kayaking. She would love to guide you to the beauty beyond the trailhead in the backcountry, having fun, and gaining confidence with backpacking skills, outdoor ethics and local knowledge.

Brew Davis, Guest Guide
Brew is Jen's husband and grew up in Nashville so he's required by law to be a part-time singer/songwriter. He's also a former History/English teacher and knows enough about both subjects to be dangerous but not helpful. He's hiked with Jen all over the US and Europe and has completed varying pain-levels of ultra marathons from 50Ks to 100 milers and the infamous Pitchell 100K in Western NC. He helps Jen on the speaking and writing side of things, but loves working in the shop and guiding hikes whenever the boss (read, wife) lets him.
 

Nancy "Seal Mom" East, Guest Guide
Nancy retired from a career as a vet in 2020 to pursue opportunities that took her outdoors more. She is passionate about sharing the natural world and teaching hikers how to stay "safe and found". She is a Southern Appalachian Naturalist and is on Haywood County's Search and Rescue Team. Nancy has hiked all 800 miles of trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park four times, and co-holds the speed record for the Smokies 900 Miler Challenge. She shares stories and educational content on Hope and Feather Travels.
 

Leah "Eagle Eye" LaRocco, Guest Guide
Leah received her certification as a Southern Appalachian Naturalist from Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, and loves exploring nature on the trail whenever she gets a chance.  Growing up in the northeast, she developed a passion for the outdoors by camping and hiking in Vermont.  When away from work, you can find her adventuring in places like the Smokies, Rocky Mountains, Yosemite, Tetons, Scotland's West Highland Way, and the Appalachian Trail.

Bev MacDowell, Guest Guide
Backpack with a contemporary!  Bev has been a hiking and backpacking leader for adults and youth for more than 10 years.  She is an AT Trail Maintainer for the Max Patch section, she has completed Educator Outward Bound, and recently hiked 200 miles of the Spanish Camino del Santiago.  She feels most alive when she is active in the forest; it is so empowering!  It brings her great joy to introduce others to the wonder of outdoor life in Western NC.

Sara McDaniel, Guest Guide
Sara spent her early childhood days camping, fishing, and playing in the mountain streams of New Mexico.  After moving to the flatlands of Iowa at age 10, she was determined to return to the mountains.  Having spent the last nine years as a guide in Colorado, California, and the Southeast, she loves to share the outdoors with others helping them realize there is "more in them than they know" (thank you Kurt Hahn).  When she is not guiding, she can be found hiking with her dog Everest or mountain biking with her husband.
 

Heidi "Picasso" Nisbett, Guest Guide
Heidi grew up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and is proud to call North Carolina home.  After graduating from Winthrop University with a BFA in Painting and Printmaking, she found herself falling in love with hiking and the outdoors.  She thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2018 and kept a detailed sketchbook of watercolor paintings to document her travels.  She has since hiked a number of shorter trails and enjoys finding new ways to incorporate her creative practice into hiking.
 

Carly Moree, Virtual Coach
Carly provides coaching and workshops centered around helping others step into their full abilities on trail through hiking, backpacking, and running.  She was the third woman to attempt the Fastest Known Time on the Pacific Crest Trail.  She has run the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim, and hiked both the Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail.  She is a published author with leading outdoor industry brands including REI and Larabar and she is the co-author of Pacific Crest Trials with The Trek.  Carly is an outdoor consultant, author, writer, endurance athlete, and owner of BURLY.  She lives in Golden, Colorado.

Company History