'A nightmare': Nature-goers stranded in B.C. backcountry after bridge washes out

A daytrip to the backcountry turned into a frightening experience for a Vancouver couple this weekend.

A daytrip to the backcountry turned into a frightening experience for a Vancouver couple this weekend.

May and Oleg Zadnipryany drove into the Squamish Valley along a remote forest service road Saturday morning to take in the sights of the Squamish River. However, the trip did not go as planned.

On the way back out, the couple reached a bridge at the approximately 30-kilometre mark of Squamish Valley Road and realized the line of cars ahead of them had stopped.

“We get out, and we see that there’s no bridge,” May Zadnipryany told CTV News. “All you can see is the two pipes along the side.”

The bridge was washed out, leaving behind a muddy chasm in the road, steep embankments on either side.

“How are we going to get out? We’re gonna be stuck here,” she remembers thinking.

The couple were not planning on an overnight stay in the valley and didn’t pack any extra food, and Zadnipryany said she was worried about not making it to her health-care job back in Vancouver.