Earl Swift and Dan Rodricks: Up on Cove Mountain: Adventure, Tragedy, and a Quest for Meaning on the Appalachian Trail

Earl Swift and Dan Rodricks meet at The Ivy Bookshop to discuss Swift’s *Up on Cove Mountain: Adventure, Tragedy, and a Quest for Meaning on the Appalachian Trail*. The book recounts Swift’s 2024 end-to-end Appalachian Trail hike and his effort to confront a traumatic memory from an earlier trek: two friendly and experienced southbound hikers he once met were later murdered at a Pennsylvania mountaintop campsite. The conversation will consider wilderness risk, human violence, grief, memory, and the act of commemorating those lost.

Swift is a longtime journalist and the author of 10 critically acclaimed books, including *Chesapeake Requiem*. His career has included reporting and adventures in places ranging from the Laotian jungle and Papua New Guinea to aircraft carriers and the sewers of St. Louis. A 1994 Fulbright fellow to New Zealand and former Virginia Humanities fellow at the University of Virginia, he lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains west of Charlottesville. Rodricks, a former Baltimore Sun columnist, wrote for the paper three times a week for 46 years and produced more than 6,600 columns. He has also worked in radio and television, created *The Sun*’s first podcast, and written books and plays about Baltimore and his experiences as a reporter.

When: Wednesday, October 28th, 2026

Showtimes: 6:00 pm–7:30 pm

Venue: The Ivy Bookshop, Back Patio, 5928 Falls Road, Baltimore, MD 21209

Participants: Earl Swift and Dan Rodricks

Featured book: *Up on Cove Mountain: Adventure, Tragedy, and a Quest for Meaning on the Appalachian Trail*

Tickets: Price not available

Registration: The event page requests an RSVP. Books may also be ordered through The Ivy Bookshop.

Run time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Accessibility: No accessibility information is provided.