Inside the spruce forest it looks somewhat like this (with a little leeway given to the poor ability of my camera to capture contrast accurately). It's amazingly lush, with thick, thick moss covering almost everything and making walking an oddly springy experience. I'd guess the moss ranges from 4 to 12 inches thick, and gives enough in the thicker areas that you feel like you're walking on wet sponges. It's also very fragile feeling in the thicker areas, where you can feel the moss tearing as you step on it (or sink down in it, as the case may be). It's hard to walk on it because you don't know from one step to the next how thick it will be, so you can't anticipate or develop a steady gait.
All over Alaska, I've been amazed by how the landscape looks very arid from afar, but is very lush and alive once you look closely. There are places where lush means wild, thick growth (like the 4 foot ferns), but most of the time, it's just a small but thick and moist layer of vegetation on the ground.
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