P.E.I. trail repairs could take weeks in the aftermath of Fiona

The president of Island Trails remembers what the Winter River trail looked like after post-tropical storm Dorian. The damage was extensive. But looking around the path on Tuesday the destruction from Fiona is beyond compare.

"I've never been next to where a bomb has gone off but if I was able to describe it, it looks like a bomb has gone off in the woods," said Greg McKee.

"It's not a very secure feeling and it's relatively quite dangerous in here now."

Trees on the trail have fallen in every direction. The sound of chainsaws rings loudly through the forest as crews try to clear a path, followed by the sound of trees creaking when the chainsaws are turned off.

"There's massive trees down, there's dangerous widow makers hanging above us," said McKee.

'No magic pill'

McKee said volunteers are working around three hours at a time. But the task ahead is "monumental."

"We basically are breaking a hole through," he said.

"Anything that is really too dangerous for a chainsaw operator and a small crew to handle at this moment, we're leaving."

Crews have made progress at the start of the trail, but a couple of kilometres in, there's a dead end blocked entirely by debris.

"It is what it is. There's no magic pill to make this all go away," said McKee.

"It worries me that we're not going to have a number of trails open this winter for use."

Most of Fullerton's Creek open 

In Stratford, most of the town's trails are finally open after weeks of repairs.

"It was an incredible storm and it knocked down an awful lot of trees," said Mayor Steve Ogden.

"We're asking people just to go along the trails and not to go into the woods because there still are some, as we call them, widow makers or dangerous trees that are possibly going to fall. But we've really tried to clear the ones out around the trail as much as possible."

All of the larger trails in Fullerton's Creek Conservation Park are open.

"We started out onto the trails the day after the storm," said Jeremy Pierce, the town's director of recreation, culture and events. "I think within the coming days all our trails will be open."

'Does tug at your heartstrings'

Although the main path looks clear now, Pierce said it was hidden under foliage after Fiona.

"It does tug at your heartstrings," he said. "But we're hopeful that with an effort here this fall and again in the spring that we will restore the park to its original beauty."

Work is now being directed to the smaller connection trails. Pierce said they are passable right now but he wants to ensure those are secure for public use.

"Residents have certainly been very supportive in terms of staying off the trails," he said.

"Part of the trees that are down will become part of the natural reforestation process but some of it will also be taken away and be chipped."

Public caution urged

The province had no update on the status of Bonshaw or Strathgartney provincial parks.

Earlier this month, the provincial manager of the parks told CBC news he was "urging people to make sure they don't use that trail system until we figure out a plan to reopen those."

Back in Winter River, the Island Trails president is doing the same. McKee said it could be a month before the trail is ready. In the meantime, he is asking the public to stay away.

"The trails are not safe," he said,

"Island Trails aren't alone in the challenge of getting trails open ... so we're kind of joining hands and trying to get things done."