In which Moominmama arrives in the Canadian Rockies and finds a surprising connection with the Japanese miners she learned about on Vancouver Island...

Mount Robson is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, and it is rare to see its peak, which is typically cloud-bound. So it was an auspicious start to Moominmama's time in the Rockies to arrive at the foot of Robson and see the mountain in all its glory. Still trying to pick my jaw up from the ground.

Another surprise came in the form of a photograph on an informational placard outside the visitor center. Glare obscures the image, but these are Canadian-Japanese men removed from the Vancouver Island town of Cumberland, which I wrote about in the last post.

In 1942, after Pearl Harbor, the Canadian Japanese men -- many of them now Canadian citizens and some even World War I veterans -- were forcibly evacuated from Canada's Pacific coast and sent to road camps, their forced labor contributing to the construction of the Yellowhead-Blue River highway that I followed into the mountains. (Yellowhead, incidentally, is not a reference to "yellow" men, but to Yellowhead Pass named after a Haudenosaunee/French trapper with blond hair who explored the region.)

The isolated mountains were considered ideal as "a kind of natural prison, keeping them away from public view in a place where they could do little or no harm," according to the book Park Prisoners: The Untold Story of Western Canada's National Parks, 1915-1946 by Bill Waiser. The Canadian Japanese would join the "conchies" or conscientious objectors in this massive timber-cutting, roadbuilding effort. And all of them would be separated from wives, children, parents and other family.

More than 21,000 Canadian Japanese ages 18 and over were sent to road camps and put to work. Paid less than other workers, they were nonetheless required to use their wages to cover the meals they were given, and if they had families, send money for their family's internment as far away as the province of Ontario.

Canadian Japanese contributed 290,238 days of labor to build 141 miles of road to Jasper. Moved before any accommodations were ready for them, they were also required to live in boxcars until they could build their own prisons.

My lush and sunny pictures are deceptive. While the mountains are awe-inspiring, the area is brutally cold with long winters, often cloudy and buggy in summer. Still, some of the internees were allowed to hike in the mountains during their time off as evidenced by old photos. 

Protests from the men who were separated from wives and children ultimately led to work slowdowns, strikes and fears of sabotage. Before the first year was out, many of the men were allowed to rejoin their families in internment camps further east. Some of the single men, however, stayed on in the road camps throughout the war.

I asked the Jasper Yellowhead Museum archivist if any of the men chose to stay in the area after the war. Did they fall in love with the mountains and green-blue glacial lakes? Was there a Canadian Japanese presence in the Jasper area today? She said none that she knew. The hurt and anger penetrated too deep, and they left the area. 

Moominmama grieves the circumstances but is grateful for what these men built, because it brought me to this crazy beautiful place. 

After a first day spent in Maligne Canyon and visiting Maligne Lake (pictured above), I was eager to get closer to the mountains. I took the tram up Whistlers Mountain, from there to hike to the summit and look out over mountains on all sides.

Whistlers in Jasper, Alberta is not to be confused with Whistler in B.C., the famous ski area. But both mountains have their name for the same reason! The high peaks are known for their marmots, in this case a "hoary marmot," larger than a squirrel but smaller than a groundhog. When frightened, they sound like a gym teacher's whistle!

I'm not sure which of us was startled more when I first heard it! But if you don't move fast, they are often more interested in eating or digging than running away. This allowed me to snap a picture.

The hike up Whistlers gave me an orientation to the mountains nearest Jasper, in particular a striking peak that looks striped with snow and canted at an angle, Mount Edith Cavell.

That's where I aimed my footsteps yesterday for an ambitious hike past the usual trails onto a "climbers trail" that headed up the glacially carved canyon. I did not go as far as the technical climb! But far enough to get a good look at this rocky -- and still snowy -- section alongside this amazing mountain. For the first time, I felt like I was truly in the mountains. Best day yet! More on this hike and all that I am learning about glaciers in the next post!