In which Moominmama joins a cult and visits Mount Washington...

Behold the holy circle of Altoistes (photo thanks to Pete Henley!) Moominmama joined with 15 other Alto trailer owners (individuals and couples) on the eastern side of Vancouver Island, British Columbia for several days of hiking, campfires and conversation. It may help to know that the Moominhouse was built by a Canadian company Safari Condo, which makes travel vans and trailers -- the latter line known as the Alto. 

Altos come in 17-foot, 21-foot and 24-foot lengths with a 17-foot version that has a retractable roof. (The Moominhouse is a 17-foot "fixed" roof model). But there are similarities and differences in all the trailers that make it fun to compare. And individual touches made visiting one another's traveling abodes a lesson in great ideas!

When Altoistes gather, they form an Altogather, labeled a "cult" by one of the participant's daughters. This was Moominmama's first Altogather so I've now been fully initiated with the ritual potluck and glasses of wine.

As you can tell, we take our rituals seriously. This hiking party of Altoistes donned Methuselah's beard moss for a mustachioed portrait taken by my new friend Janet!

Moominmama was also delighted to visit Mount Washington, a mountain far distant from the more familiar Mount Washington in New Hampshire! 

Unfortunately, this photo is NOT Mount Washington, B.C. It turned out the correct mountain was behind me -- a ski resort no longer snow covered and not nearly as dramatic.

But we did drive to the base of the Mount Washington Ski Resort after our hike in Strathcona Provincial Park (pictured here) to get a view toward the mainland so I can now say I've stepped foot on both the NH and BC Mount Washingtons.

On one of the other group excursions, Moominmama visited former Chinese and Japanese towns dating back to the late 1800s, when the nearby town of Cumberland was a center for coal mining. 

The buildings have largely been razed, but memorials and placards tell the history. In the case of No. 1 Japanese Town, its inhabitants were sent away to internment camps in 1942, something I did not know had happened in Canada as well as in the U.S.!

Now, 31 cherry trees stand on the land as a reminder for each of the families forced to vacate their homes and businesses during World War II. 

Cumberland Chinatown, just down the road, was an even bigger community. Founded in 1888, the last business was torn down in 1968, but one log cabin from the time survives, a one-time jailhouse that may also have served as an ossuary, where bones were housed before being returned to ancestral villages in China, as was the tradition at the time.

It later served as the home of Hor Sue Mah, who began working in the Cumberland mines in 1918 at age 20. He lived in this cabin until 1968! 

The land this township occupied was outside Cumberland's village on marshland and near the railroad. They were not invited to live in town! The new residents had to built boardwalks to get around the wetlands. One building was actually built with an angled wall to accommodate the nearby tracks.

Prejudice was rampant, and the men who immigrated from Guangdong Province to work in the coal mines were paid less than Anglo workers. Canada adopted a "head tax" to discourage Chinese immigration, making it cost-prohibitive for most to bring wives or families. Laws also passed that prohibited the Chinese from working at the higher-paid jobs underground. Some mine owners ignored these laws (retaining and paying Asian miners less), but the political tension made life more difficult for the residents of this community.

Like many immigrants, however, they found ways to thrive, starting a Chinese Benevolent Association to pay for funerals and to send bones back for reburial in home villages. The newcomers started stores, churches, clubs, schools and gambling halls, even a local Opera House! Chinatown and No. 1 children who attended Cumberland schools also had to attend Chinese or Japanese schools to be educated in their own language and traditions.

But they adopted new traditions as well. The Japanese Canadians built a baseball diamond for the City of Cumberland in 1914.

It is the descendants of these immigrants (including the Chinese Canadian Mah family) who helped to bring the history back to light, even though the towns themselves have been destroyed.

In Cumberland Chinatown's case, the fire department determined the old buildings were a fire hazard and razed them in 1968, except for the one cabin moved uphill so it's near the parking area for the history trail.

Moominmama parts from her felllow cult members to head toward the Canadian Rockies shortly. But the eye-catching Altos are more common north of the border so I may meet others en route! I also hope to see another friendly Canadian resident (if you happen to have a granola bar on hand), the Canadian Jay known as Whiskey Jack. I am terribly pleased to finally have a bird come close enough for me to get a decent picture after years of admiring the bird photos of my friend Norma! Norma, this one's for you!