Dear Editor,
The Maligne Tours proposal for overnight accommodation at Maligne Lake electrified and angered many national park lovers and was viewed by many through squinting eyes: wearing sunglasses of suspicion, disbelief and outrage at the perceived over-development disaster in our national parks. The ultimate decision: no hotel, but tent cabins took months of analyzing, finagling and compiling data/comments from the public, by park employees.
All those opposed aren鈥檛 happy; crying out, 鈥渋t鈥檚 the beginning of the end, the floodgates of development are open, and catastrophe is unleashed.鈥� I sympathize with your disappointment, which has left a bitter, rotten taste in your water bottle.
I applaud all efforts in both camps, but who is the real monster here? The goliath of development/improvements, or the shape shifter of change? I have a pair of favourite, old boots; they don鈥檛 really fit anymore, holes in the soles, forgotten, slumped in a corner of a dark closet, gathering dust, mold and mice droppings. Boots filled with sentimental yearnings and nostalgia, a rubbed in patina of sweat, good times, bug spray and campfire smoke.
Maligne Tours has a few old pairs of boots hanging around its leasehold; the soles are worn down with decades of memories, heels scuffed with out of date buildings, and the glossy sheen of once supple, polished leather is tired and faded. Many find the boots uncomfortable, unsuitable, and inevitably blisters will grow.
I will embrace the proposed changes up at Maligne Lake. I will sit beside my rented tent cabin after an incredible day on the lake, hiking, or recovering from overwhelming views. As the sun slides behind a mighty peak, the last day-visitor will reluctantly leave the Maligne Valley. I will put my feet up on a stump, my refurbished boots drying beside me, caked with mud, filled with memories, beauty, and alpine flowers. I will watch the moose peacefully lap the icy waters, and banter back and forth with past Maligne characters. I鈥檒l sit back, overwhelmed, as the heavy press of a black velvet cape, studded with a billion stars settles with a weighted presence on the lake, the valley, and me.
Maligne Tours has plenty of boots to share, one size fits all! They are spit shined and polished with radiance and ready to two-step back onto the Maligne stage, and into a changed arena.
Loni Klettl
Jasper, Alta.
