Ken Stichter

Death on the High Route: a Novel Ken Stichter

Backpackers Sti and Rob discover skeletal remains of a female NationalPark Ranger at 11,000 feet in the trailless environment of the SierraNevada High Route. The official determination is accidental death-case closed. But for Sti and Rob it is only the beginning of a tale thattakes them down paths never before traveled. Preeminent geologist Matthew Harris believes his granddaughter wasmurdered and convinces the two semi-retired friends to be amateurinvestigators. As such they encounter a series of strange historicalconnections extending back to early settlers in California's OwensValley in the 1860's. The connections involve Indian uprisings, geological research, LosAngeles aqueduct, archeological artifacts, the deaths of two scientists,and extremes that accompany the lust for gold. What starts out as justanother hike ends up as a journey through the history of the EasternSierra and the puzzling cause of the death of June Harris.