{"product_id":"up-on-cove-mountain-adventure-tragedy-and-a-quest-for-meaning-on-the-appalachian-trail-9780063265431","title":"Up on Cove Mountain: Adventure, Tragedy, and a Quest for Meaning on the Appalachian Trail","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"An extraordinary portrait of the AT.\" --\u003ci\u003eOutside\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eChesapeake Requiem\u003c\/i\u003e comes an intricately plotted tale of two end-to-end adventures through the Appalachian Trail's twenty-two hundred miles, braided around a third strand, that of the trail's most notorious tragedy that has haunted Earl Swift for thirty years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1990, a youthful Earl Swift backpacked the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia, a transformative experience that colored every aspect of his later life. He emerged from his hike across the rugged, sky-high roof of fourteen eastern states a sharper and more organized thinker, a better problem solver, and a committed outdoorsman.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut he also left the AT with baggage: Early in his odyssey, he spent time with a couple of other southbounders, who were friendly, capable, and doing everything right, but who were nonetheless murdered weeks later at a mountaintop campsite in Pennsylvania--a fit of violence that the killer never explained.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHalf a lifetime later, Swift returned to the trail to find out whether he was still, in his sixties, equal to the AT's roller-coaster terrain. Driving him, too, was a quest for answers that had nagged at him since that first hike: What had happened at that campsite to turn two smart, bighearted people into prey? Why had fate chosen them, when other hikers--Swift included--seemed more likely candidates? And how could such a grisly episode have unfolded in the backcountry's sylvan loveliness, not to mention one of the safest places around?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eUp on Cove Mountain\u003c\/i\u003e is the arresting account of Swift's 2024 trek through the AT's enduring wonders and the ghosts of its past, a chronicle of swashbuckling adventure coupled with a meditation on the nature of risk and the risks of nature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Earl Swift\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Mariner Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/18\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.20lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.30w x 1.28d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780063265431\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/01\/2026 pg. 123\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/24\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSwift, Earl:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eEARL SWIFT\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller \u003ci\u003eChesapeake Requiem\u003c\/i\u003e, which was named to ten best-of-the-year lists. His most recent book, \u003ci\u003eHell Put to Shame\u003c\/i\u003e, was a finalist for the Edgar Award (Best Fact Crime) and the Virginia Literary Award. A former reporter for \u003ci\u003eThe Virginian-Pilot \u003c\/i\u003eand a contributor to \u003ci\u003eOutside\u003c\/i\u003e and other publications, he lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains west of Charlottesville.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Earl Swift \/ Hardcover \/ English","offer_id":48840905588893,"sku":"9780063265431","price":39.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_c6428daf-db9f-4f12-80f9-4c4b19070476.jpg?v=1787728151","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/up-on-cove-mountain-adventure-tragedy-and-a-quest-for-meaning-on-the-appalachian-trail-9780063265431","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}