Visit put Alaska in his blood

One thing holds true about Alaska -- you either love it, or you hate it. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground concerning a person's feeling for the state, and that's exactly the reason Matt Rehak made the trip up the Alaska Highway to the Last Frontier earlier this summer. For him, there simply isn't any other place he'd rather be.

Rehak, along with his brother, Nathan Rehak and good friend Travis Clark made the move to Wasilla from Williston, N.D. this spring. Rehak talked the other two into moving to Alaska with him following last summer, and both were eager for the new start Alaska offered.

"I was talking to Trav and told him I was moving to Alaska, and he said he would come, and then Nathan finally said, 'What the heck, I'll go with you' around February," Rehak said.

Rehak spent last summer in Wasilla. His girlfriend's brother was getting married, and she was staying in Alaska for the entire summer. He decided to stay for the summer as well, and, like this summer, he talked a few friends into coming with him. They all got jobs and rented an apartment, and had one heck of a summer.

When it came time to leave Alaska, though, none were sure they wanted to make the trip back down the Alaska Highway to North Dakota. One of them stayed in Alaska, moving to Fairbanks. Rehak went back to North Dakota, but Alaska was in his blood for good.

"About two days before we were leaving, I unpacked my stuff and said I wasn't going home. I wanted to stay," Rehak said. "But I had to go back and finish school. If I wouldn't have had to finish school, I never would have left last summer."

All three of the transplanted North Dakotans are avid hunters and fishermen, so Alaska provided everything they needed recreationally. Coming from North Dakota, which can make Alaskan winters feel like six months in Hawaii, the men certainly won't be surprised by the weather come January. Plus, like many Alaskans, the trio looks forward to the winter months because they love to snowmachine.

Winter also offers another recreational activity the Rehak brothers both enjoy. They played hockey in high school and recreationally following school, and both have coached youth hockey teams in North Dakota.

"I've been playing for 13 years," Rehak said.

Even though they have only been in the Valley a few months, the Rehaks are already starting to collect the right "toys." They recently purchased a small riverboat, and have been zipping up and down local rivers, as well as fishing the local lakes. They have already hooked into a couple of early-run chum salmon on the Little Su, and they are anticipating the arrival of the silvers.

"I left right after the silvers hit last year, and it's nice to know I don't have to leave Alaska when the silvers come this year," Rehak said.