Ontario couple first to finish Island Walk since Fiona

A couple from Windsor, Ont., have become the first people to finish the Island Walk since Fiona hit P.E.I. 

Martin Denonville and Carrie Lee began the Island-spanning walk last September, but they were forced to stop when the post-tropical storm rocked the province later that month.

The couple are among the 110 people forced to stop their journey when Fiona struck.

But despite that setback, their determination to walk the full distance never wavered. This week, they officially completed the 700-kilometre journey.

Lee said it was an unforgettable experience.

"What stands out for both of us is just the incredible hospitality, the beauty of the people here and of the scenery," she said.

"It's way up there in terms of our experience. To realize that we just finished a walk of over 700 kilometres was pretty amazing."

A sobering drive back

The pair's journey began at Joe Ghiz Park in Charlottetown, and they had made it as far as Dalvay when Fiona hit in the early morning hours of Sept. 24.

Denonville said the drive back to Charlottetown was sobering.

"The morning after the hurricane, we got a ride to our car in Charlottetown. But the ride from Rustico to Charlottetown…the devastation was incredible," he said.

"I've never seen anything like that." 

The walk was supposed to take around a month to complete.

We finished it. Our grandchildren know we finished it. And that's exciting.​​​​​​- Carrie Lee

But despite the delay, Lee said they had zero interest in trying to complete a similar journey somewhere else.

"That did not cross our minds once. I remember saying soon after getting home we need to book it and get back there to finish it," she said. 

"It was very important that what we started, we had to finish."

Getting back out there

The couple visited the Island Walk website months later. They saw a notice trails were cleared out and safe to walk — and didn't waste a minute getting back outdoors.

Lee and Denonville picked up where they left off in Dalvay, and completed the walk from there. 

Denonville said he was impressed with the cleanup efforts in the months following the storm.

"I don't know how P.E.I. did it. The cleanup has been phenomenal. There were a couple branches we had to step over, but no climbing over any trees," he said. 

"I'm not sure how you guys managed to do what you did over the space of nine months."

Lee agreed.

"The trails were as clear as could be and beautiful," she said. 

Though it wasn't easy, she said they're proud of what they've accomplished.

"There were days that we were pretty tired, and we both quietly to ourselves said, 'What were we thinking? Why are we doing this?'" Lee said.

"But now we know why we're doing it. We finished it. Our grandchildren know we finished it. And that's exciting."

Officials with Island Walk said 250 people have registered to do the walk in 2023.  Around 30 were scheduled to start the walk this May, and 40 more were set to do so this month.