During my college years I met my future wife Marleen, and I ended up taking a basic mountaineering class with her. I was so excited
about getting some formal training in the art of climbing, that I signed up for an additional class in winter mountaineering. Not wanting
my new found skills to go to waste, I encouraged my dad to hike to the top of Mt Whitney with me for my first real outing. He agreed,
and along with my brother Chris and one of his friends, we made the summit. Next, I talked my dad into climbing Mt Shasta. Our first
attempt was unsuccessful, but we ended up coming back the next year. On that trip, my father decided to stop at the halfway point, but
my brother Chris and I went on to the summit the next morning. Unfortunately, Mt Shasta would be the last climb my dad would go on.
Failing knees and age had taken their toll and he was unable to continue mountaineering. I will always be grateful for those few
adventures with my dad and all the memories they afforded me. After my dad dropped out of climbing, I then teamed up with a couple
of friends that I had met during my college years. They enjoyed mountaineering too, and we went on many climbs together.

In 1977 I married Marleen as mentioned above, and life with her started out carefree in those early years. We spent many wonderful
days backpacking together. I think we must of hiked out of nearly every trail head in Yosemite Valley.  We even did some climbing in
“Joshua Tree” and other areas. She also accompanied me on the summits of Mount Whitney and Half Dome. Sadly, Marleen passed
away on January 14th, 2009 from breast cancer. A huge loss for myself and the family, but the greatest comfort of all, is that she is
with the Lord in Paradise, and nothing could be better than that. Marleen was an incredible wife and companion to me, and I miss
her a whole lot. But in a blink of an eye (in the scope of eternity), we as believers in Christ Jesus, will all be reunited in heaven once
again.            

I continued to do more serious climbing with my friends, but those carefree times were not to go on indefinitely. Shortly after Marleen
and I had our first child I went on a climb where I ended up getting stuck (while down climbing) on a vertical cliff with no rope for a short
period of time. While waiting for the rope to be reconfigured by my climbing partner above, I pondered the slippery moss at my feet
and began to think, “What am I doing in a position like this when I have a wife and a one year old daughter at home?” So I decided that
enough was enough, and I stopped climbing for several years.  

Marleen and I had two more children, and I became focused on family life and the construction business I was involved in with my dad
and brother Chris. The years continued to fly by until one year, an event took place that would change my life forever. Business had
been very stressful that year, and one day while driving to a job site my brother Chris pulled his truck over to the side and called 911.
He thought he was having a heart attack, but it turned out to be a severe anxiety attack.

I was hoping for a speedy recovery for him, but things just got worse. I tried to help him all I could, but nothing seemed to work. Finally,
it got so bad that he could not even come to work any longer and I began to think that he was done for. But one day, out of the blue, he
surprised me by showing up for work. I asked him how he was doing, but he skipped the formalities and began to tell me about Jesus.
He told me that Jesus had helped him get back on his feet and about how the Bible had played an important role in his recovery. He
also encouraged me to read the Bible and went on to say that it would change my life. I could hardly believe what I was hearing and
responded by telling him that, although I was happy about his recovery, I was not about to read the Bible. He did not press me any
further that day but did not give up on me either. About once every week he would ask me if I had read the Bible. “Start with the Gospel
of Matthew,” he would say. After a few weeks of listening to him tell me the same thing, I got tired of hearing it and decided to find the
Bible my mother had given me so many years ago. I ended up locating it in the garage buried along with some other books, and from
there, I took it and placed it on our coffee table in the living room. I figured that one evening, when I got a chance, I would pick it up and
read it, just to get him off my back. So one day, I did just that, I picked it up and began reading the Gospel of Matthew.  

After reading the genealogy of Jesus for a couple of minutes, I stopped and said to myself…….”Just as I thought……a bunch of
meaningless words.” But by the grace of God it did not end there, because during the pause, I prayed the very first genuine prayer of
my life. The prayer went something like this: “God if you exist and the Bible is true, I pray that you would open my eyes so that I could
see and understand it.”  After that I continued to read for about an hour or two and with the help of God, I came to the following
conclusion. “The Bible is true. Jesus is who He says He is, and I am a sinner in need of a Savior.”  I then went into my room, closed the
door, turned out the lights, and fell to my knees. In that position, I asked Jesus for forgiveness and asked Him to come into my life and
make me a new person.

As the days went by I could not get enough of the Bible, and I read it from early evening until well into the early morning hours. My
brother was right. The Bible had changed my life. God had used it to bring me into a saving relationship with Jesus and I began to tell
my wife and anyone else who would listen all about my new found Savior. In the years to come, my wife, and all our children became
Christians, praise be to God.

I finally got back into climbing some years later when my brother Chris asked me to take him and his son Andrew to the top of Mount
Whitney. We were successful and continued to go on other adventures together until one day they experienced a terrible night out on
Mount Tyndall in the California Sierra Nevada Mountains. An unexpected storm came in early one evening and blew snow sideways
into the unprotected sidewalls of their tent. Unfortunately, it soaked their sleeping bags and they spent a miserable night out. After that
experience, my brother and his  two sons decided no more mountaineering. They figured that there were better ways of having fun then
spending freezing nights out on some barren mountain slope. I miss him and his sons being out there with me, but I did understand.

After my brother and his sons stopped climbing with me, I decided to look up a longtime friend and climbing partner named Mike
Koerner who had climbed with me during my twenties and early thirties. I was able to get his number from his parents who still kept in
touch with us through Christmas cards. I ended up giving him a call one day. I began to ask him how he and his family were doing, and
if he would be interested in climbing again. He was happy to hear from me and in short order we were both back climbing again.  

Now at this point I would like to answer a question that people often ask me: "Dave, why do you put in all that hard work and suffering to
climb some mountain peak?"  In the past I would tell them about the incredible scenic beauty, the adventure, and the sense of
accomplishment that climbing affords. And at the time, those incentives seemed more than adequate to explain why (and even today,
they are still partially motivating). But in the last several years, other reasons have become more important to me. One of those being
that mountaineering has a way of stripping off the phony veneer that so many people seem to put on these days. When you take away
the modern comforts of civilization from an individual the real person begins to come out. Nearly every emotion surfaces at one point
or another, when mountaineering, and I get a chance to see both myself and others under all sorts of circumstances. Heat, cold,
sickness, exhaustion, fear, pain, and other various trials, have a way of breaking down a person to his or her basic core.  I find that in
just a few short days of mountain climbing I can get to know a person in such a way that would have taken me years to discover under
more normal conditions. I love that, because real friendships and not fake ones will develop from the experience, and it is the building
of those kinds of friendships that I find so motivating these days.

My goal at Timberline Trails is to share the many experiences I have had (along with others) in the great outdoors. Along with the text, I
will provide photos that I have taken over the years so that you will be able to see some of the awesome beauty of God’s creation. In
addition to all this, there will be sections entitled "Deeper Insight" which are summarized in an area called "The Inner Wilderness".
There, I will make every effort to relate some of the outdoor adventures (that you will be reading about) to God’s Word. Prayerfully you
will then be able to apply some of the deeper truths of the Bible to your own personal outdoor experiences. It is also my prayer that you
will be able to glean real value from Timberline Trails and that the many pages throughout this site will make a difference for you for all  
eternity. I continue to see God's fingerprints everywhere I travel in the great outdoors, and it has deepened my understanding and love
for Him in ways that go far beyond my descriptive capabilities. For His awesome power is beyond the scope of human imagination.

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"
1st Corinthians 2:9


May God richly bless you as you travel along the trails of this life here on earth,
Dave French     
Our goal at Timberline Trails is to share the beauty and adventure of God's creation with all those who are
interested in the great outdoors. But no matter who you are or where you may live, all you have to do is to
step outside your home and look about you. God is as near as you allow Him to be and His creation is
intimately tied to His everlasting Word. So be still and look closely. Listen carefully to the still soft breeze of
His loving voice. He is calling your name by means of His eternal Son Jesus Christ.

See you on the Trails,
Dave French
For since the creation of the world God's invisible
qualities-- his eternal power and divine nature-- have been
clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,
so that men are without excuse.   Romans 1:20       

I was born in Topeka Kansas along with three brothers and two sisters in the
early nineteen fifties in what would be considered today as "Rural America."
Growing up there was wonderful. Within walking distance of our home were
forests, rivers, and ponds that were just waiting to be explored. I spent many
carefree days going out on the sand bars of the Kansas River, climbing nearby
cliffs along the railroad tracks, building forts and hunting frogs and crawdads in
the local ponds.

Mom was not too keen on us wandering all over the area at such a young age,
but dad understood the adventuresome nature of boys and gave us plenty of
freedom. In 1960 we moved to Southern California in an effort to provide a
healthier environment for my brothers, who suffered from asthma, and to
provide for better job opportunities for my dad who worked in construction. I
remember those early trips to California and especially the sections through
Colorado where I was overwhelmed by the mountainous terrain. I would have
my father stop the car now and then just so I could get out and climb to the top
of some nearby hill. Even in California, I would have my dad drive around
looking for just the right palm tree so I could climb it. Climbing seemed to be in
my blood. I loved it.
Biography