Tundra misconceptions - Pt 1/3

The tundra holds a mythological appeal for me. It has always been something of a surreal landscape, something that I know exists but is so exotic that it can’t really exist. It ranks with the rainforests and the corral reefs of the world. Glaciers rank up there, too. These geographic features define an area above and beyond the landscapes I am used to seeing. These geographic features also hold an ecology so foreign to me that anything I read in books or see on television cannot possibly prepare me for what those features actually are. As of this moment in life I have now had contact with three out of the four I listed - corral reefs, glaciers, and now the tundra so I know that they do exist. But with each a similar feeling overwhelms me as I observe them.

After describing how much I read and how much I watch, nothing can educate me as much as how much I experience, I feel that some things need to be shared so that you can get just a slight feeling for the tundra. And I feel obligated to share a few things that people need to know about tundra that was lacking in my conception of tundra before experiencing it firsthand. My conception of tundra was that of a cold, foreboding environment, dry and brittle, light green to brown, invoking if not death, at least despair. This, I now know, is wrong on all accounts. After a few trips around Tununak across the tundra my initial reactions were centered around number one - how soft it is, number two - how many different plants they are growing in any square feet, and three - how little I truly know about the tundra.

Let me expound on these thoughts. First of all, walking in the tundra is like walking on a mattress, albeit a chunky mattress. Each step involves the constant monitoring and calculating of where to best place your foot next, a process similar to hiking a mountain trail. Then you modify your calculations with a certain margin of error due to the uncertainty of how much your foot will sink. This is one part of walking in the tundra that is unlike walking on anything else. One step may be on relatively sturdy ground when the next will involve sinking close to a foot. There are also rocks that speckle the landscape that themselves are speckled in lichens and mosses giving the rocks a type of tundra camouflage adding a very sturdy step to the mix.