TAIGA MOUNTAINS
Contributed by Alan Tracey
FACTS
Country: Canada
Location: Dempster Highway, Yukon Territory
Round trip: Varies
Start elevation: Varies
Final Elevation: Varies
Map: Yukon Road Maps: Energy, Mines and Resources, Canada, Topographical maps (1:50000).
GETTING THERE
From Whitehorse, Yukon, take the Klondike Highway north to about 45 km southeast of Dawson City, then north on the Dempster highway which is an all-weather gravel road.
PARTIAL PLANT LIST
Arnica angustifolia
Campanula uniflora
Chrysanthemum integrifolium
Crepis nana
Crepis elegans
Cypripedium guttatum
Cypripedium passerinum
Delphinium glaucum
Eritrichium arenioides
Eritrichium splendens
Gentiana prostata
Lequerella arctica
Minuarta elegans
Papaver walpolei
Pedicularis capitata
Pedicularis sudetica
Pinguicula vulgaris
Pyrola grandiflora
Rhododendron lapponicum
Sausurea angustifolia
Saxifraga oppositifolia
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The Taiga Range form the eastern part of the North Ogilvie Mountains and are formed mostly of limestone. This region has largely remained unglaciated but has been subjected to eons of weathering. The area exhibits the patterns of a frost-weathered landscape with accumulations of talus beneath the mountain slopes. These mountains are less rugged and lower in elevation than those of the Southern Ogilvies. Often when perusing fragmented rock, it is not unusual to find pieces where softer stone has weathered away to reveal the original structure of coral branches from an ancient coral reef. Because of the calcareous sedimentary bedrock, and limestone-derived soils, the vegetation of the Taiga Mountains consists of numerous calcium-loving pants, many of which are considered rare glacial relicts. Somewhat surprisingly, Pinguicula vulgaris is a common plant of these limestone hills.
TAIGA MOUNTAINS GALLERY.
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