Press
Adventure Bio
Jennifer Pharr Davis knows what it takes to keep going. As a hiker she has covered over 14,000 miles, exploring trails on six different continents and in all fifty states.
Jennifer has hiked the Appalachian Trail three separate times. In 2011, she became the first woman to hold the overall record - or Fastest Known Time - by completing the 2,190-mile path in 46 days, for an average of 47 miles per day.
And as a mother of two children, Jennifer has yet to slow down: she has backpacked 700 miles in her second and third trimesters, hiked across the state of North Carolina while nursing her newborn son, and set foot on a trail in all fifty states with her daughter.
Even so, Jennifer has pushed harder, gone farther and accomplished more off trail than she has on it. When she was 24 years old, she founded Blue Ridge Hiking Company and then spent the next 15 years developing it into the southeast’s premiere outfitter – helping more than 12,000 individuals experience the scenic beauty of Western North Carolina, before selling her business in 2023.
As a speaker and storyteller, Jennifer has found ways to interweave her trail adventures with life-lessons and work takeaways that empower and equip audiences for the path ahead. And she has inspired countless individuals- from corporate audiences to students at Title I schools- to see themselves as a part of nature.
Jennifer has penned guidebooks, family hiking resources and adventure memoirs, traveled the United States promoting the health and economic benefits of outdoor recreation, filmed IMAX movies and episodes for PBS and Amazon Prime, and spearheaded new long-distance trails like the 330-mile Appalachian High Route.
Jennifer has been named a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year and served on the President's Council for Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. She is a past board member of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the recipient of the Governor of North Carolina's Laurel Wreath Award. With a relentless desire to care for land and people, Jennifer recently completed a Master in Public Affairs and has been playing an active role in the recovery of her region post-Hurricane Helene.
All that to say, it's been a heck of adventure so far... and she’s still got a long way to go.
Video
Adventures
14,000 miles on six continents
2005
- Appalachian Trail thru-hike (northbound)
2006
- Kilimanjaro summit, Africa
- Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike (northbound) and Fundraiser ($10,000)
2007
- Hike for Habitat Fundraiser ($10,000)
- Machu Picchu and Cotahuasi Canyon (Peru)
- FKT (fastest known time) on 280-mile Long Trail (Vermont)- 7 days, 15 hours
2008
- Self-supported FKT on Australia's 600-mile Bibbulmun Track (Australia)
- Women’s FKT on the Appalachian Trail- 57 days and 8 hours (southbound, 38 mpd)
- Blue Ridge Outdoors Person of the Year
2009
- 480-mile Colorado Trail thru-hike
2010
- 80-mile Foothills Trail (South Carolina), 110-mile GR20 (Corsica), 110-mile Tour du Mont Blanc (Itally, France, and Switzerland), 180-mile Pembrokeshire Coastal Path (Wales), 95-mile West Highland Way (Scotland)
2011
- FKT on the Appalachian Trail- 46 days, 11 hours and 20 minutes, (southbound, 47 mpd)
- Ultrarunning magazine's Female Performance of the Year
- National Geographic Adventurer of the Year
2012
- 550-mile GR11 (Spain), and 50-mile Laugavegur Trail (Iceland) during the 2nd & 3rd trimesters of pregnancy
2013
- Day hikes with husband Brew and daughter Charley in all 50 states
2014
- 250-mile section hike on the Continental Divide Trail in Colorado
2015
- 100-mile Bartram Trail (North Carolina)
- 250-mile section hike on Continental Divide Trail in Wyoming
2016
- Camino de Santiago (Spain), Mount St. Helens and Katahdin (during 2nd & 3rd trimesters)
- Laurel Wreath Award for athletic achievement from Governor of North Carolina
2017
- 1,175-mile Mountains-to-Sea Trail (while nursing newborn son)
- named one of 25 most adventurous women of the past 25 years by Men's Journal
2018
- 300-mile Pinhoti Trail
- The Pursuit of Endurance published by Viking Press
2019
- 300-mile Benton Mackaye Trail
- "Female Entrepreneur of the Year" by Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce
2020
- featured in IMAX film Into America's Wild, narrated by Morgan Freeman
- released short film Positive Forward Motion, about experiences in nature changing her life
2021
- Joined President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition
- visited 22 national parks with her family
2022
- Created and completed 330-mile Appalachian High Route through Western NC and Eastern TN
2023
- Sold Blue Ridge Hiking Company
- Began Masters in Public Administration at University of California- Berkeley
2024
- Complete Masters in Public Administration at University of California-Berkeley
- Grand Canyon R2R2R (Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim)
