Sheer Rock Sheep
As you splash around a bend in the swift water of the upper Snake, a flash of white appears on the hillside. You grab your binoculars for a closer look, and see a sturdy, goat-like animal with a short woolly coat and backwards-curled, amber-coloured horns. But this is no long-haired mountain goat — it’s a Dall Sheep, sometimes known as a Thinhorn Sheep. And it’s found only in Canada’s Northwest and Alaska.

The ram within your view has followed the snowmelt line down the mountain, searching for a mineral lick to restock his winter-depleted supply of micro-nutrients. Lingering for days or even weeks, he will eventually nibble his way back up the mountain slopes, through the newly sprouted shoots of grass and sedge. High up on the impossibly craggy cliffs of the lambing grounds, his ewe protects their newborn lamb from less sure-footed predators.

When the lamb is old enough to climb, the pair will move to graze and fatten in high alpine meadows. As winter nears, they will follow an age-old migration route, dodging wolves, coyotes and grizzlies, to low south-facing slopes. Here, they must find just the right balance of two opposing habitats: a feeding ground with open, wind-swept spaces, and a sheep-only escape route of ragged, broken cliffs. In this lofty, rugged terrain, ewes and rams will meet again for the rut of November and December.

Leader of the Band: Dall sheep bands follow a simple organizational rule: the ram with the largest horns is the leader. Most ram leaders are at least five years old, indicated by the growth rings on their horns. Leaders may bear the scars of many clashes with challenging rams. While they reach an average age of twelve, ewes may outlive them by another four to five years.

Fireweed: Emblem of the Yukon
Caribou sightings or grizzly bear glimpses may not be guaranteed for Snake River paddlers, but whitewater adventurers are sure to capture at least one close-up photo of Fireweed, the Yukon’s official floral emblem. Contrasting brilliantly to the muted browns and slate greys of canyon walls and gravel riverbeds, the tall, spike-bloomed stalks of this rugged plant help to brighten the often somber river landscape.

Named not for its colour — which ranges from white to magenta, rosy pink and pale purple — but for it’s tendency to spring up in the wake of a forest fire, this highly adaptable perennial has taken firm root in many sub-Arctic areas. Easily propagated by means of deep-rooted rhizomes and fluffy, wind-borne seed, Fireweed tolerates a thin soil cover and intense sunlight. It prefers disturbed ground such as roadsides, cut-over or burned forests and swamps, and avalanche areas. It also thrives in recently deglaciated areas and riverbars.

Tea and Toast: Though captivated by the brilliant beauty of this ubiquitous plant, few Yukon visitors realize that Fireweed is both edible and medicinal. Recipes for Fireweed Flower Jelly abound, and Fireweed Tea has traditionally been used to treat upset stomachs and asthma. The plant has also been applied to insect bites, cuts and scratches. The red spring shoots of the Fireweed resemble asparagus, and can be eaten raw, steamed or stir-fried, while young leaves and unopened flower buds can be added to salads. Even seeds have been put to practical use, starting fires or woven into wool blankets.

Woodland Caribou: Deer of the North
Summer in the upper Snake. Look up — way up — where the snow still lingers in crusty patches on the mountain slopes. In the relatively open river vistas, you may see a small group of caribou cows with their May-born calves, nosing the ground in search of grasses, sedges and willows. Don’t mistake the mothers for the larger bulls down by the river; caribou are the only deer species in which both sexes have antlers.

The Snake, along with its neighbouring Peel River tributaries, is home to the Woodland Caribou of the 5,000-strong Bonnet Plume herd. Representing about one-fifth of the total Woodland Caribou population of the Yukon, the herd is one of only two in the Territory that remains undisturbed by roads and easy access.

Wintering in the shadows of the Wernecke Mountains, the caribou of the Snake dig through the snow for lichen, the mainstay of their cold weather diet. Warmed from head to toe by a furry, hollow-haired coat, and equipped with broad, sharp-edged hooves that act as built-in snowshoes, the Woodland Caribou are highly adapted to steep terrain and sub-zero Yukon winters. In contrast to the more abundant barren-ground Porcupine Caribou, usually found further north, the Bonnet Plume population is more limited in its migratory range.

Caribou Culture: For the Gwich’in people of the Peel River watershed, and for First Nations tribes throughout the Yukon, caribou have equaled survival for thousands of years. In addition to supplying meat, the hides, bones, sinews and fats of the animal have traditionally been fashioned into clothing, utensils, thread, light and heat. In some parts of the Territory, remnants still remain of lengthy caribou fences, where bands of caribou were snared, then speared or shot with bows and arrows.