• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

inletkeeper

Protecting Alaska's Cook Inlet watershed and the life it sustains since 1995.

MENUMENU
  • About
    • Cook Inlet Watershed
    • Our Team
    • Board
    • History
  • Our Work
    • Clean Water
      • Safe Drinking Water
        • Water Testing FAQ
        • Protect Your Water Source
        • Water Rights in Alaska
      • Clean Boating & Harbors
        • Susitna Valley Lakes and Rivers
        • 2-strokes vs. 4-strokes
        • Boater Resources
        • Sewage Management
      • Pharmaceutical Disposal
    • Healthy Habitat
      • Salmon Safe Farming
      • Pebble Mine
      • Stream Temperature Monitoring Network
      • Stream Temperature Data Collection Standards and Protocol for Alaska
      • Real-time Temperature Sites
        • Anchor River
        • Crooked Creek
        • Deshka River
        • Russian River
      • Cold Water Refugia
    • Strong Communities
      • Climate ActionKit
      • Community Action Studio
      • Alaska Food Hub
      • Solarize the Kenai
      • Drawdown Climate Solutions Series
      • Alaska Farmers Market Association
      • Salmonfest
      • Electronics Recycling
      • Mouth to Mouth Wild Run & Ride
    • Energy & Alaska
      • Climate Change
      • Oil & Gas
        • Lease Sale 258
        • Exploratory Seismic Testing
        • Leasing
        • Transportation and Infrastructure
      • Coal Strip Mining
    • Resource Library
  • Take Action
    • Digital Action Center
    • Ways to Give
    • Write a Letter to the Editor
    • Contact the Media
  • Donate
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Press
  • Report Pollution
  • Shop

April 20, 2022 by David Knight

Mouth to Mouth Wild Run & Ride 2022

I stood at the finish line of the Mouth to Mouth Wild Run & Ride at the end of Cannery Road in Kenai, on an extremely cold February afternoon (the race is still over three months away). There was a mean wind that bit at any exposed skin, making my eyes water. I quickly wiped the tears away for fear that they would freeze my eyelids shut. The beach looked so foreign, just a frozen landscape interrupted only by straw colored dune grass, bending but not breaking in the gale.

A person cannot help but be awe-inspired by the sights, smells and overall feels that overwhelm the senses when they experience this extraordinary place. A connection may be formed that may never be undone. It’s something that could impact and shape a life forever.

When we connect to something significant it changes us and we want to celebrate and protect it. We grow to love the places we connect to, creating a special relationship and a strong bond. It is our hope that our community will experience this relationship building through the Mouth to Mouth Wild Run & Ride. It’s what it’s all been about for the past 8 years and this year we will be doing it in person on May 30th, 2022!

We also want to recognize that the lands the race takes place on have been culturally shaped by the Dena’ina people, their stewardship, knowledge and traditional practices before time immemorial. Since the impact of colonial settlement, they have faced many challenges, including loss of traditional Dena’ina ways of living, hunting, fishing, land, language and culture. However, the Dena’ina are extraordinarily resilient and have combated the challenges valiantly. The work of reclaiming Dena’ina culture continues to this day in so many admirable ways, including Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s educational fishery located on Tribal land right next to the finish line of the Mouth to Mouth Wild Run & Ride.

I look forward to a little bit warmer weather at the end of May. Until then stay warm and  Mark Your Calendar for May 30th! Reflect on all that is good in this place we love and remember that there is so much that is significant and meaningful where we live. So, let’s be curious and continue to learn about the Cook Inlet watershed AND each other.

Register for the Mouth to Mouth Wild Run & Ride now!

Filed Under: Clean Water, Events, Healthy Habitat, salmon Tagged With: Central Peninsula, Kenai, mouth to mouth, Soldotna, wild run and ride

Previous Post
Next Post

Footer

Homer:
3734 Ben Walters Lane
Homer, AK 99603
tel: 907.235.4068

Soldotna:
35911 Kenai Spur Hwy, #13
Soldotna, AK 99669

DONATE

Copyright © · Cook Inletkeeper