muskeg

A bog or peatland of the boreal north — a spongy, waterlogged expanse of sphagnum moss, stunted black spruce, and sedge, underlain by deep peat and often by permafrost. Muskeg covers vast areas of northern Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, and it is one of the most difficult terrains on earth to cross on foot. Every step sinks. The surface quakes. Progress is measured in effort per yard. Muskeg is the boreal forest's basement — a wet, cold, acidic world beneath the trees.