About

Mission

Blue Ridge Hiking Company's mission is to make the wilderness accessible and enjoyable to all. We believe that 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 experiences with engaging, knowledgeable, and well-equipped guides.

Blue Ridge Hiking Company embraces and encourages diversity on the trail- including but not limited to race, age, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and special needs- and is an LGBTQ+ friendly business, and provides a safe and inclusive environment on all our trips.

We also follow Leave No Trace principles to emphasize the importance of enjoying the outdoors responsibly.

Our Team

Lindsey Barr, Manager
Lindsey grew up in central North Carolina, where she developed a love for the outdoors and earned her Girl Scout Gold Award. In 2012, she left her career in engineering behind to follow her dream of helping introduce others to an active outdoor lifestyle. When she isn't at work, she is exploring area trails and dreaming of her next adventure. In addition to hiking and backpacking, she enjoys trail running, cycling, rock climbing, paddling, fly fishing, knitting, and sewing.

Tara "Candy Mama" Dower, Appalachian Trail-er Caretaker
After a spontaneous climbing/camping trip with friends after graduating from East Carolina University in 2016, Tara abandoned her career path and realized her passion for nature and adventure. This passion motivated her to work at a gear shop, become a climbing guide and zip line instructor and eventually thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in 2019. With a love for backpacking and the Appalachian Trail, Tara can not wait to guide trips and maintain the “Trail-er” this summer.

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. With over 12,000 trail miles on his legs, many of them have been in Southern Appalachia. Matt has a Plant Sciences degree from the University of Tennessee and has spent many of his hours in nature studying its science and history.

Brew Davis
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.

Jenn "One Day" Gift
Jenn grew up in Central North Carolina and spent her summers enjoying the state’s beaches. It wasn’t until she attended college in Western North Carolina that she fell in love with the mountains. She has worked in Wilderness Therapy since 2010 and has hiked over 5,500 miles on the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and the Camino de Santiago! Currently in pursuit of her master's in counseling, she approaches the wilderness with curiosity and creativity. You’ll often find her cheesin’, cause smiling’s her favorite!

Lexie "Curls" Lanfrank
Lexie grew up in Northern New Jersey and spent a lot of her outdoor time at the beach or in her backyard. During college, she found her love for the mountains after a few backpacking trips, and she completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2018. She plans to hike more long trails in the future, but is happy to call Appalachia home. When Lexie isn’t doing school work for her graduate program or enjoying Asheville, she spends her time cooking, doing yoga, traveling, and waiting for the next adventure.

Jason Linguanti
Jason grew up in New York state, spending most of his childhood exploring the outdoors (barefoot!) and camping with his family. He got more into backpacking while traveling through Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. Jason has led wilderness expeditions in the Everglades and Blue Ridge Mountains, teaching skills in backpacking, whitewater and marine canoeing, and rock climbing. He is passionate about bringing folks outside and helping them develop a sense of wonder toward nature and outdoor activities.

Christine "Dormouse" Martens
Christine grew up in Virginia, where she fell in love with the Appalachian Mountains. She thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2010, and then fell in love with long distance hiking. She's hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, as well as long distances trails in Europe, New Zealand and many in Southern Appalachia. She has worked as a guide for Blue Ridge Hiking Company since 2015, and loves to share stories from her adventures and her knowledge of local plants and animals with others.

Francisco Miller
Francisco grew up in Ohio, where he developed a love for the outdoors. After graduating college with a Marketing degree, he went on to work in Chicago, France, and Spain before realizing the fast paced life of sales wasn’t cutting it. He sold his belongings and thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2014, the Pacific Crest Trail in 2015, and the Continental Divide Trail in 2016. After moving to Asheville, he knew that sharing his passion for life and the outdoors as a guide was the way to go.

Eli Mills
Eli grew up in North Central Iowa where his love of outdoors grew from biking dusty gravel roads, digging in the family garden, paddling rafts down the Winnebago River, and visiting national parks. Upon earning his Bachelor's Degree, he moved to Asheville to work in wilderness therapy "just for the summer," but years later he still calls this place home. Eli enjoys many mountain sports including climbing, running, camping, and biking and sharing these with folks of all stripes.

Anne Read
Anne grew up in Maine, where she worked as a backpacking and canoeing instructor, leading trips in Maine and the White Mountains. She moved to Asheville in 2017 and came to love the area and its outdoor opportunities. Anne worked as a raft guide on the French Broad River, and enjoys leading wilderness trips with people of all ages. In March, she hiked 220 miles of the Appalachian Trail, postponing the thru hike due to trail closures. Anne loves cooking, rafting, climbing, and reading on her porch.

Lauren Smucker
Lauren has been exploring Appalachia for over 30 years. Originally a Pennsylvania native, she moved to Western North Carolina after leading trail building crews with Americorps. After hiking Vermont’s Long Trail in 2017, she went on to thru hike the Appalachian Trail the following year. Lauren enjoys creating sculptures, growing food, and identifying flora & fauna in the mountains she calls home.

John Haffner
John is originally from New York. He loves to hike with people of all skill levels. He has a degree in Ecology and has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail as well as extensively in New Zealand. He loves to share his knowledge of local plants and animals with others turning an ordinary walk into safari. Go on a hike with him and he will show you the mountains he calls home. He also is an avid juggler.

Andrea "Caboose" Hasselbacher
Andrea grew up in New England, but moved here in 2016 to be closer to the mountains she loves. She completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2014, and has hiked the Wonderland Trail, in New Zealand, Patagonia, and Europe. She is a Pharmacist, an Herbalist, and an avid plant lover and forager, excited to teach others about the woods and trails she loves here in Asheville.

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

Company History

About Jennifer

Blue Ridge Hiking Company was founded in 2008 by Jennifer Pharr Davis, a renowned backpacker and leading voice in the outdoor industry. Jennifer grew up in these mountains but didn't backpack until she walked the entire 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail at age 21. As she crossed a solitary ridge at sunset, she realized for the first time in her life that she was a part of nature, not merely an outside observer of it. That moment made her feel beautiful, capable and wild, and she vowed then and there to help others experience "that" feeling.

At age 24, Jennifer founded Blue Ridge Hiking Company to help everyone- especially women- experience the joy and wonder of spending time in the woods. Twelve years later, Jennifer has been named a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, one of Men's Journal's 25 Most Adventurous Women of the Past 25 Years, and the Asheville Area Chamber's 2019 Female Entrepeneur of the Year. She has grown as an author and speaker, and in 2020 she played a key role in the IMAX film Into America's Wild, narrated by Morgan Freeman.

During that time, Blue Ridge Hiking Company has grown from a one woman operation to a small business with a dozen guides, a shop in downtown Asheville, a bunkhouse in the Appalachian Trail hamlet of Hot Springs, and a small fleet of vehicles, and has been recognized coast to coast- from the LA Times, to the Washington Post and New York Times as a key cog in Asheville's burgeoning tourist industry. More importantly, BRHC has helped thousands of people experience the transformatative power of walking through and with nature.

Today, the company guides in Pisgah National Forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Mount Mitchell State Park, Dupont State Forest, on the Appalachian Trail, and more!