Brittany Lea Neal

Hey y'all, "Rodeo" here! I'm a 22 year old graduate from Virginia Tech, a crazed horse-chick, a dirty mountain hippie and a very bad singer. I'm big on the adventurer lifestyle and am hoping to find a career that combines conservation education, journalism, and my love of the outdoors. In 2013 I broke my spine in a rather nasty horse back riding accident and since then have been planning and plotting my 2014 AT Thru-Hike with my dog, Scout the Adventure Beagle. Our goal is to raise at least a dollar a mile while hiking across the Appalachian Trail ($2,200) for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and Spinal Cord Injury Research. We look forward to seeing y'all on the map! Happy Trails! Check out our adventure blog: Backwoods2outback.wordpress.com Donate: Christopherreeve.org/teamreeveallstars2014/trailmagic

Posts

What’s In Your Pack?: A Gear Survey of the 2014 Thru-Hikers

What’s In Your Pack?: A Gear Survey of the 2014 Thru-Hikers

One of the biggest challenges for me before beginning my through hike was to decide on the core gear that I would carry. More specifically I was

Jul 26, 2014 : Brittany Lea Neal
20 Edible Plants and Fungi You’ll Find on the Appalachian Trail

20 Edible Plants and Fungi You’ll Find on the Appalachian Trail

One of my favorite activities when I worked with the Scouts was to go on nature walks and pick wild berries. Naturally, living in the woods for the

Jul 19, 2014 : Brittany Lea Neal
5 Things I refuse to ditch despite everyone’s advice

5 Things I refuse to ditch despite everyone’s advice

So in looking back at the things I dropped off in hiker boxes along the beginning of the trail, I had to take a look at the things that still

Jun 5, 2014 : Brittany Lea Neal
10 Things You Thought You Needed on the Appalachian Trail (And Why You’ll Probably Send Them Home)

10 Things You Thought You Needed on the Appalachian Trail (And Why You’ll Probably Send Them Home)

1. Trowel (Editor's note: as LNT outlines, feces should be buried in a cathole at least 6 inches deep.  There are sections of the trail where doing

Jun 5, 2014 : Brittany Lea Neal
Surpassing Expectations: My first few weeks on the trail

Surpassing Expectations: My first few weeks on the trail

So here I am, following my dream of thru hiking the Appalachian trail. It's everything I dreamed of and more but somehow nothing like what I was

Apr 30, 2014 : Brittany Lea Neal
How to prepare your trail boss.

How to prepare your trail boss.

The term ‘trail boss’ is often thrown around hiker talk and refers to the individual at the other end of the universe with whom you utilize as a

Apr 4, 2014 : Brittany Lea Neal
Do You Need a Gun on The Appalachian Trail?

Do You Need a Gun on The Appalachian Trail?

Should you bring a gun with on your Appalachian Trail thru-hike? Brittany covers the two biggest perceived threats on the AT and why you DON'T need a gun.

Apr 1, 2014 : Brittany Lea Neal
Finding Your Reason

Finding Your Reason

So you made the leap. You have begun the exhausting mental, physical and financial process that is preparation for a thru hike on the Appalachian

Mar 22, 2014 : Brittany Lea Neal