THE ESPLIN WAVE REUNION
HONORING OUR FATHER
John Lynn Esplin
1904
– 1947
October 29, 2004
Moses led the Children of Israel
out of bondage to the Promised Land.
Brigham Young led the Saints
across the Great Plains to the Promised Valley.
Jerry led his Esplin Siblings
across the sands to the Promised Wave.
After
arriving in St. George on Thursday, October 28, we all walked over to visit
with Jerry & Lana. We had
problems. We were gathering to celebrate
Daddy’s 100th year. Lana and DeRay had
ingeniously acquired ten Wave tickets for us nearly seven months ago on the
Internet. Now the BLM office was telling
us that due to recent heavy rains and flooding, the road was washed out. On Wednesday, they told us that the House
Rock side was impassable but you might be able to make it from Highway 89 with
a 4-wheel drive high clearance vehicle.
Thursday, they had reversed their story and said we couldn’t make it
from Highway 89, but we could drive around by House Rock—about 160 miles, 28
miles on dirt roads.
Jerry
has a Jimmy so we have one 4-wheel drive vehicle that holds five.
What
to do?
Because
of the bad roads, we decided to leave around 8 AM instead of 6 AM. We didn’t get gone until after 9 AM. Jerry drove his Jimmy with Lana, Carol &
Verla. K’Leena drove Amy’s car with Amy
Lyn, Amy Jayne, and Jeanette. We met
Lynn and Juanita in Kanab at Honey’s Jubilee Market.
Leaving
Amy’s car in Kanab, Amy Jayne jumped in with Jerry & Group and Amy, K’Leena
and I rode with Lynn and Juanita. Lynn
was able to drive down the dirt road for a couple of miles in his touring car,
then we came to the place where the road was washed out. Lynn & Jerry looked it over and decided Jerry
could make it in his Jimmy. He took the
first group in: (the self-appointed slow
ones with Lynn to guide them) Lynn,
Juanita, Lana, Carol, and Verla. Amy
Lyn, Amy Jayne, K’Leena and I sat in Lynn’s car (it was windy and cold) and ate
our lunch. By the time Jerry came back
and got us down to the trailhead, it was noon.
At the trailhead it was
cold. Amy carried my coat in her
backpack. I wore my fleece and had my
rainjacket, hat, gloves. We caught up
with the others after about a mile. And
somehow, even though Jerry had been there before, we didn’t take the right
path, staying too low and ended up going up and down up and down—probably five
or six miles rather than three—Juanita tired out and found a warm place to wait
for us. The clouds were clearing and we
shed coats. An absolutely perfect hiking
day. Stunning. The sand was wet so it made it easier to
walk. According to the logbook, not one
soul got in on Thursday. Too
stormy. Flooding.
We did sort of wonder if we would ever get
there.
“Lynn,
Lynn, take our picture! Here’s the
Wave,” we shouted as we all waved to him.
Jerry
went on ahead to find the way. Lana said
he was gone one hour and twenty minutes; he said he was gone 20 minutes, and
then in another story, with a twinkle in his eye, he decided it was 10 minutes. Lynn and Amy Jayne took off one way; and
finally we walked in another direction.
So we broke the cardinal rule and split up into five groups: 1) Juanita; 2) Lynn and Amy Jayne; 3) Jerry;
5) Lana, Carol, Verla, Amy, K’Leena, Jeanette; and we didn’t hug a tree. We started out. We saw a guy standing on the sandstone edge
taking pictures so we asked him where the wave was. He pointed in the general direction and then
we ran into Jerry coming back. He had
been up to the Wave to find the best way in.
Lynn and Amy Jayne had worked their way up the harder route. In difficult places, we helped pull each
other up with the walking sticks. Verla
crawled up one section. Of course, she
fell down in the sand a couple of times too.
I think she did that on purpose.
It was deep and soft.
At
the entrance of The Wave, a photographer and his family were just leaving. He was with the Davis County Clipper so he
took Jerry, Carol, Verla and my picture to submit to the paper. One of the subjects had to be from Davis
County. Maybe we’ll be in the
newspaper—hopefully the headlines. Our
cousin, Billy Bolander, was his bishop when he was growing up. When he was around 8, Billy took a group of
them to Orderville for a week. They
visited all the interesting landmarks.
He went down again when he was 12.
Later, he and the new bishop were home teachers to the x-bishop
Bolander. He knew the family well and
had a soft spot in his heart for Orderville.
He said that Dorothy had a stroke and was in a home.
Celebrities – Davis County Clipper – November 4, 2004
Some fat politician aced us out for the headlines but we're on A8, right before the obituaries. Everyone's name is spelled right except mine.
There were two pictures: one of the Wave and one of us. Photos by Ron L. Brown
Everyday Davis
 |
| Janet Hugh of Fruit Heights and her siblings Verla Galloway, Jerry Esplin and Carol Murphy celebrated their father's 100th birthday by hiking into "The Wave". The three-mile hike was a little difficult for these "youngsters" formerly of historic Orderville, Utah |
Photo by Ron L. Brown 04.NOV.04
 |
| The Wave is actually located in the Paria Canyon Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness area, straddling and south of the Utah-Arizona border. The wilderness area is south of Kanab, Utah. Photo by Ron L. Brown 04 NOV.04 |
Because
there was a pool of water at the main entrance, we had to walk around and enter
the Wave from the less impressive side.
When we got inside the Wave, Carol asked Jerry, “Is this all there
is?”
Amy
and K’Leena had taken off their shoes and socks and waded in.
Lynn
left just as we were entering so Juanita wouldn’t be so long alone.
We
ate our lunch in the warm sun surrounded by the Wave.
Amy
Lyn borrowed some gloves from me, then when Verla and I, bringing up the rear,
started up this steep sand hill, we picked up Amy’s gloves that had dropped out
of her pocket. Later, when it got cold,
she borrowed them from me for the second time.
After
lunch, we climbed up and around and slowly the magnificence and the wonder
began to penetrate our beings, and we were enthralled.
We
took pictures and found secret formations and marvels. With all the rain and snow, there were ponds
everywhere. Reflections. Swirls.
Changing colors, shapes, contours.
Magnificent Artistry.
We
sang Happy Birthday to Amy Jayne.
Forty-five today. We reluctantly
left The Wave around 4, hoping to get back before dark. It had taken us three hours to get
there. Going back, we stayed high on the
ridge and we actually made it in two hours.
 |
| These are the little demons that got us in trouble going in. We followed the cairns instead of staying high. |
“I’ve
put my camera away, take pictures of how steep the trail is,” Verla said. So I took pictures all the way down the trail
of everyone’s rear ends. We did crawl up
on our hands and knees and scoot down on our bottoms some. The walking sticks Amy gave me for Mother’s
Day were a big hit. I started out using
both of them. Carol suggested I let
Juanita use one, so she used it until she stopped, then Verla took it. She said she couldn’t have made it without
it. They take some of the weight off
your legs as well as help with balance.
Still, those pictures didn’t show the magnitude of the incline. Nevertheless, here’s a secret, the pictures
are actually more beautiful than the Wave itself. They seem brighter, more intense, variegated;
spectacular synchronization with rhythm, flow.
Picturesque. Striking. Why, I don’t know. Maybe it’s so marvelous, it just takes awhile
to sink in.
Lana had just had major surgery in the summer; her back and knees are
bad so she slowed way down. Jerry
thought he had better hurry on to shuttle the first group back so Verla and I
waited for Lana. Amy and K’Leena stopped
to play in the sand, then they decided to hurry on to catch the first shuttle
out. They passed Carol and she waved to
everyone as they pulled out. By the time
we got there, Carol was lying on the cement outside the restroom, without a
coat on, with her feet in the air. She
had surgery on her foot about a month ago and her feet were hurting. She had walked the whole way in a sandal and
a surgery shoe. When we got to her, she
was shaking, cold, her breathing was shallow, and she was going into
shock. We all put our coats over her, including
the sweatshirt she had tied around her waist, wrapped her feet in a rain
jacket; Lana cradled her head in her lap to give her warmth, and we reassured
her. “You’re OK, Carol.” “Help is on the way.” “Jerry will be right back.” (Just like in the Red Cross First Aid
manual.) “Where’s Amy and K’Leena when
we need them?” “Why didn’t you say
something to them when they passed you?”
She soon relaxed, quit shaking, and was getting warm.
I
walked over to a jeep to ask the guy (the same one Lynn talked to) if he were
going out, thinking we had better get her out as soon as possible. “My sister has gone into shock. Are you going out?” “That way,” he said, pointing toward House
Rock Valley. He told me I wasn’t dressed
for the weather. “We put our coats on my
sister,” I said. He proceeded to take
his wet, sweaty shirt off and put on a dry shirt and warm coat right in front
of me. He was a photographer from
Chicago. He had come in Tuesday and then
again today to take pictures. He said he
was staying in Page. I told him that he
didn’t need to drive all the way through House Rock Valley, (probably 200
miles); when he could be to Page in ½ hour.
In his jeep he could make it.
Just then Jerry drove up and convinced him that he could do it. We told him that we would follow him and help
him if he got in trouble. Jerry told him
to not stop in the wash, to gun it and keep going. We followed him and he stopped after he got
through. He asked us if that was the
only bad place and we told him yes. He
stopped one more time because he thought we were flashing him but it was only
the washboard roads. Now he’s behind us
and we forgot to tell him to turn right towards Page when he got to the
highway. We turned left to Kanab. We don’t know why he turned out his lights
just before the highway and stopped.
“Did he have a camera?” “Was he
really a photographer?” “Did he have a
body in the car?”
Everyone
waited for us in Kanab at Honey’s Jubilee Market. I called DeRay to report our safe
return. We knew he, Shirley, and Ed, who
had stayed home, would be relieved to hear we had made it after all our
apprehension about the weather, the roads, and non-hikers hiking a strenuous
trail. DeRay said the soup was warm, the
birthday cake made, and the biscuits were just coming out of the oven.
It
was 11 PM when we got back to St. George.
We loved Shirley’s tomato soup and DeRay’s sour dough biscuits. DeRay ran to the store to buy ice cream while
we ate; even though he hadn’t eaten; then Amy Jayne blew out the candles and we
sang Happy Birthday for the third time.
I
can’t believe it’s over; after all our troubles with the weather and the
trail. In spite of everything, Amy said
it best on the way home, “It’s an amazing thing for you to spend a day with
your brothers and sisters on such a difficult hike together at your
age--helping each other, sharing, caring”—celebrating Daddy’s 100th birthday doing what he loved to do most.
WE
DID THE WAVE!
Dreams Do Come True
DeRay
says he’s going to lose 10 years and go next time.
Verla regretted that we didn’t have a picture with everyone in it so we
gathered for a group photo—Republicans and Democrats together--one big, happy
family. Ed wouldn’t join us but everyone
else was a good sport. Lynn and Juanita
were leaving for Church in Glendale and the rest of us headed for our
respective homes, except Amy and K’Leena who stayed down one more night. Lee went back down to his dad’s in Mesquite; Shirley and
Amy to New Castle; and the rest of us to Salt Lake, Fruit Heights and Hyrum.
 |
Shirley, Amy Jayne, Verla, DeRay, Juanita, Jerry, Lynn, Carol, Jeanette, Lee, Amy, Lana
Dear Souptown Siblings,
|
I
never come home from time spent with you, but what I resolve to make changes in
my life - there is and continues to be strength in family solidarity, even
after we've long flown the nest. I see something in each one of you
that I would like to emulate and that includes your mates and the next
generation down. Thank you for lifting me up and helping me to be a
better person.
I
didn't hike to the Wave but from you conversations and from Jeanette's written
account, it was as though I had been there with you. Daddy must
have been looking on with admiration. Mama undoubtedly a little concerned
about Carol walking so soon after foot surgery, Verla's asthma, Lana's struggle
over the uncertainty of the trail and Juanita's courage. You were all
heroes, as were those of us who knew our limitations well enough to stay
at home.
You
are all very much in my thoughts. We had had such a good time.
Thanks
for being such a special family. You are all so kind to make Amy feel
included and welcome when we get together. Ed and his "Edisms"
always adds to our gatherings. It was great to have two girl scout
leaders (Amy Lyn and K'Leena) to add a level of protection beyond
the "Watch-care" of Father Moses (Jerry) and the messenger
(Lynn) who traversed back and forth between the straggling hikers. It was
so great to have Lee there. That was the icing on the cake.
Amy
and I voted at 7:15. There were no security guards on hand to
handle voting problems. The judges said they had 7 people waiting to
vote before the polls opened. I tried to imagine how the Floridians
could have had dimples and hanging chads as I voted. We use the same
system. It would have been impossible.
All
of my love, Shirley
