Alaska... What comes to your mind when you hear the name of the 49th state of the USA. Before the 44th president's elections I imagined bears, seals, big spaces, tall mountains and tough people. Now I can't banish Sarah Palin out of my mind and all the negative images she brings with her. For my international friends and family outside the US, she was a vice-president candidate for the republican party, McCain's running mate. Let me put it gently: she wasn't the brightest cookie around... or subtle, the moments she brought to Saturday Night Live were precious!

Anyway, here we are in Anchorage, Alaska, in the middle of the night and it's raining. The cab driver (who had some teeth missing and sported long blond hair) told us that they are expecting their first snow storm in October and they are allowed to put studded tires on in September, suddenly I felt an aching need for a mojito on a warm beach... What the hell was I thinking, running away from the summer into the winter? I will answer this question (maybe partly... I am still longing for that mojito though :)) as I go along telling about the trip.

The first night we spent in Anchorage in a Alaska Backpackers Inn which looked OK on the net. Once we got there I couldn't believe how little 60$ buys in Alaska, we got a room with one bed, no blinds and had to take dirty sheets out of the room ourselves (mind you, from the previous inhabitants!). There were two showers for the whole floor. Well, at least we had showers and didn't have to camp the first night!! At that moment I felt nostalgia for Motel 6 in lower 48 (or Outside as they call the rest of the world) which costs only 35-50$. I never thought in the past I would miss Motel 6... ever... We kept thinking maybe it's only Anchorage; it's the largest city in Alaska after all. We were dead wrong, the prices in Alaska are outrageous! They are trying to make a living in 4 months since the rest of the year is too cold for tourists. We will have to figure out a way to afford this state...
Next stop: famous Denali National Park. As always we didn't plan ahead and reading the guidebook I was under impression that you need to book campsites and shuttles 4-6 months in advance to get the best spots and times. Private cars are not allowed into the park after 15 miles (the road extends 89 miles in total), so the only way we could get into the park and spend couple of nights without worrying about campsites would be to do back-country camping. We stopped at one of the reservation points at the entrance and got lucky (!) there was a last minute cancellation for the best campsite in the park for the next day which we took in a heartbeat (85 miles into the park, the campsite is located at the Wonder lake, it's rated as one of the best campsites around the United States). We spent the night in a remote campsite where we prepared our first meal with wild mushrooms after Ainius was stung by wild wasps 10 times!!! Poor guy...

The next morning we got back-country camping permits as we planed to head out into the wild... To get the permits we were required to watch an orientation video which extensively warned about bears and rushing rivers that need to be crossed... With a healthy dose of fear about the wild and a bear canister in hand we were ready for our adventure! The shuttle took about 5 hours to get to our campsite deep in the park. It was raining during the whole ride and it didn't seem like it would lighten up... The first night in the tent at Wonder lake was quite miserable; it rained and it was quite cold, I shivered for most of the night. Rain stopped the next day and we were able to go for a 6 mile hike through the taiga, it was truly nice, but we still couldn't see the mountains, they were hidden under a cloud cover. We kept thinking why we came all this way while we can see similar views in Washington state. The answer came the next morning! We woke up at 6am to a frozen tent cover (it was bellow freezing) and a magnificent view of Mt. McKinley. We caught a 6:30am shuttle and then walked for another half an hour to get to a pond that reflects the mountain range that you see in pictures. It was an awe inspiring morning. We ended up going for another hike to admire the mountains from a different vantage point and finished our three days in Denali National park on a good note without trying to venture into the back-country after two miserable nights in the tent. The following night in the hotel felt truly deserved :) Next – on to Denali highway and Kenai peninsula (coming up in three days :))

Aliaska... Kokias asociacijas jums sukelia 49-ta JAV valstija? Juratei ir man ji visada siejosi su laukine gamta, kalnais, gelianciai saltomis upemis, ir zverimis bei zuvimi atsiduodanciais zmonemis. Pries kelius metus sis ivaizdis pasipylde dar viena asociacija – respublikonu partijos kandidate i viceprezidentus Sara Palin. Uztenka pasakyti tik tiek, jog ji buvo moteriska Buso kopija.

Nusileidome Anchorage velai vakare. Pliaupiant lietui is oro uosto nuvaziavome pasiimti masinos is nuomos punkto ir tiesiai i moteli. Svelniai tariant viesbutukas buvo kuklus, o kainavo visus 60 baksu. Po keliu dienu supratome, jog Aliaskoje viskas kainuoja dvigubai. Kodel? Pasak vietiniu, jie teturi 4 menesius uzsidirbti bakpes visiems metams. Tai atseit todel ir plesia devynias skuras nuo cia atvaziuojanciu turistu. Taigi, jei nori issisukti pigiau, pasiruosk nakvoti palapineje.

Butent taip ir mes nusprendeme pataupyti kai kita diena atvaziavome i Denali nacionalini parka. Pirma naktele praleidome salimais kazkokiame kempinge, kuris primine siukslyna, o ne nakvynei skirta vieta. Dar berenkant sausuolius lauzui, uzkliudziau vapsvu lizda, tai siek tiek sugele, gyvates. Na bent jau pakeliui prisigrybavome raudonvirsiu, tai vakariene buvo fantastiska. Kitas dvi dienas praleidome bludindami po Denali (ir be abejo valgydami grybus, kuriu cia, Aliaskoje, gyva galybe). Aisku, vel nakvojome palapinese, bet jau paciame parke.

Pirma nakti lijo be perstojo, o temperatura sieke gal kelis laipsnius silumos. Kita diena nuotaika siek tiek pasitaise, nes islindo saule, bet kalnai vis dar skendejo debesyje. Guodemes ir tuo, jog vaziuodami parko autobusu (privaciu automobiliu eismas ribojamas) pamateme grizlius, karibu elnius ir kalnu avis. Tiesa is toli. Is arti tik meskos kakuciu paliktu vidury takelio teko “pasigrozeti.”

Tik antros dienos ryte pagaliau pamateme tikraji sio parko grozi. Sesta ryte islindome is i ledo susaliusios palapines (nakti prasigiedrijo ir gerokai pasalo) ir pries musu akis pirmuose saules spinduliuose maudesi kalnu virsunes. Vaizdas nerealus!!! Veliau sie zodziai tapo nuvalkiota klise, nes vos ne kiekviena diena tekdavo juos kartoti. Butent tada pradejome suprasti, jog sios keliones metu musu lukesciai bus virsyti su kaupu. Net mums, kurie gyvenome kalnu apsuptame Sietle paskutinius devynis metus, teko ne karta aikscioti zvelgiant i virs tundros platybiu pakibusias sniego nubalintas virsunes.