I Made It Back Into Walker Today!

Forgetting Stuff

I made it into the cabin today, with an escort, so that we could get stuff we forgot.

In all of the commotion to get everything into the trucks and evacuate yesterday, we forgot some stuff.

It was hard to brain in the crisis.

It wasn’t until later that I realized I only had one extra pair of underwear.

I had to wash my hair with hotel shampoo and no brush. Do you know what that looked like?

Trying To Get In

When I had a chance, at about 11:30am, I drove down Walker road.

As I turned on Walker Road, there was a sign that said “Walker Road Closed 6 Miles”.

I drove about a mile, to about Lynx Lake, and saw them.

I was stopped by an officer, standing in the hot sun, along with 6 or 8 other official vehicles.

He walked over and asked where I was going.

I said I’d like to go to Walker and get stuff we forgot when we evacuated. I pointed to the pile of stuff in my front seat.

He pulled out a clipboard. He asked my name, address, and phone number.

A couple volunteers jumped into a pick up behind me and pulled out to follow me.

He said they would make sure I got to where I was going.

I really wanted to drive up Big Bug and take more photos, but they didn’t give me that option.

Being Escorted

I drove through Walker and up to our cabin beyond the mailboxes.

I grabbed a bunch of stuff and put it in the truck.

My escorts were very nice. They told me I could take more time if I needed.

They actually reminded me of a couple more things I forgot.

I grabbed a couple cold beers out of the refrigerator.

I did take a photo off the deck for comparison to yesterday.

The smoke looked softer to me, not as much, and lighter gray.

I asked them if this was the policy now, to escort people in.

They didn’t really know, but said there were a bunch of volunteers to escort people.

I have no idea what the official policy is, or how long it will last.

I’m going to guess you’ll have a good chance of going back in if you just try.

It worked for me, but it’s not my fault if it doesn’t for you.

Driving Out

As we drove back out, I noticed that there was a hot pink ribbon on everyone’s house.

I assumed that was from the Jeep Posse, going door to door and marking the empty houses.

Everything looked fine.

It was surrealistically normal.

No one was really around, but everything looked normal, other than that.

I did see a few smaller pickup sized fire trucks around.

I saw a Montana license plate. One truck had a “North Texas” logo on the door.

Walker Fire had a couple trucks out and a lot of our guys were around.

Everyone was waiting, it seemed. Nothing was in motion. People were waiting, ready to go.

It was good to see my old, normal Walker on a sunny day.

It wasn’t the tragic scene that I had worked up in my head.

Everything Was OK.

On the drive out, I saw at least 5 other vehicles driving in with escorts. They were with sheriffs with the lights flashing.

Always fun to see a cop with flashing lights.

By the time I made it back out, they had moved the check point way up the road towards 69.

You could almost see them from the AM/PM.

I stopped and asked if I needed to check out.

They said thanks, but no. You’re good.

And life was normal again.

Photo Gallery

Click to enlarge.

Hot Pink Ribbon Tied In Front Of Every House

Trucks Parked At Pink Car

Walker Fire Station Parking Lot

Walker Fire Station Parking Lot

Walker Fire Station Parking Lot

Walker Fire Station

Always Watching

Another Neighbor Being Escorted

Another Neighbor Being Escorted

The New Checkpoint