Hiker, author Jennifer Pharr Davis to speak at UNC Asheville

Press release:

Hiker and Author Jennifer Pharr Davis to Speak at UNC Asheville on September 25

Hiking icon Jennifer Pharr Davis will speak at UNC Asheville on Monday, September 25, in a three-part series combining practical advice and personal stories. From 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. she’ll share her experiences as a solo thru-hiker in “Adventure = Growth.” From 3 to 5 p.m. she’ll offer a backpacking workshop. At 7 p.m. she’ll present “Stories from the Trail,” chronicling her latest adventure – a three-month hike of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in North Carolina.

All of the talks will take place in the Sherrill Center Mountain View Room and are free and open to everyone.

Pharr Davis has written five books, including three North Carolina guidebooks and two hiking memoirs called Becoming Odyssa and Called Again. Her most recent release is Families on Foot. She has also written articles for The New York Times, Outside magazine, and Trail Runner, and has been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR’s Talk of the Nation and CBS’ The Early Show. She is founder and owner of Blue Ridge Hiking Company, a guiding service, and serves on the board of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and as an ambassador for the American Hiking Society.

She was named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year and has covered over 13,000 miles of long distance trails on six different continents. In 2011, she hiked the 2,185-mile Appalachian Trail in 46 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes, maintaining an average of 47 miles per day and earning the overall (male or female) fastest known time on the A.T. She is the first woman to set the mark.

In August 2017, she set off on her latest adventure, hiking the 1,175-mile Mountains-to-Sea trail, with support and meet-ups with her family, husband, Brew Davis, and her 4-year-old daughter Charley and 10-month-old son Gus. The hike, which stretches from Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the Outer Banks, commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, and her talks at UNC Asheville are part of a year-long celebration of the university’s 90th anniversary.

Follow along with her adventures from August through November at http://jenniferpharrdavis.com/blog/year-mountains-sea-trail.

Pharr Davis’ visit to campus is sponsored by the following UNC Asheville departments and programs: National Endowment for the Humanities Professorship, Arts & Ideas, Advising & Learning Support, Dean of Students, Dean of University Programs, Campus Recreation, and Health & Wellness.

For more information about the September 25 talks at UNC Asheville, contact Laura Bond, professor of interdisciplinary studies and drama, at lbond@unca.edu.