Snohomish County, WA – It was a very close call for one couple that decided to tempt fate at the Big Four Ice Caves in Washington State.
They had to run for their lives when an avalanche hit – and managed to capture their brush with disaster on camera.
“It was like a huge cloud of dust coming down and I turn around and Ashley is already gone. She was like was maybe 30 feet running already.”
Colby Dotson and girlfriend Ashley Bechard can smile now, but Saturday was a different story.
“Got our boots on and then got in a car and drove about two hours to Big Four Ice Caves,” said Colby.
A popular spot year round and a place they had never been.
“Everybody is always talking about it. Everybody wants to go to it. So we just wanted our turn at that.”
They followed footsteps that led off the trail and decided to take a risk. They were just a few feet away from the cave.
“I heard something that sounded like a plane. No question in my mind, I just ran. I was like that’s an avalanche. And I ran, said Ashley.
Colby did too, with camera in hand, capturing these pictures as it moved closer.
“I’m looking into the cave as this avalanche is coming down and I see head lamps, there was two or three kind of flickering in there, so I am terrified people are dying right now,” said Ashley.
As people rushed out, Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies moved toward the danger. On the department’s twitter page it states two people were inside the ice cave at the time of the avalanche. But managed to escape on their own. No one was hurt.
Back in 2010 an 11-year-old girl was killed by a falling chunk of ice at the caves.
It is just another reason why people are warned to use extreme caution in the area and to not go into the caves.
