Dipnetting 2018

I'm not sure I plan to report every day on the dipnetting, but I've gone up and done a couple periscope broadcasts. Yesterday was grey and rainy... today sunny and so windy! The surf today was insane. If you missed the live feeds, you can watch them on replay.

Dipnetting on the #KenaiRiver opening day 2018 https://t.co/Hi43HQvzTe

— Toni Reitter (@tonichelleak) July 10, 2018

Day 2 Dipnet report on the Kenai #Alaska #AlaskaLife https://t.co/Z8SyZHoLZk

— Toni Reitter (@tonichelleak) July 12, 2018

Tonight we are looking at having a Super Tide, with 23 foot seas near the mouth of the Kenai, which means they are closing the beach and making every tent move. It'll be interesting to see the reports of how that went - high tide is around 3:30am Thursday morning.

Sunrise photos on the Kenai River

On my way to work this morning I made a stop (good thing work is now just minutes from home) to take photos of the incredible sunrise we got to witness. I'd type more, but I'm tired and lazy and can't think of something to say... I'll let the photos do the talking (1000 words, ya know?).

As always, there are more under the cut.

Some photos from December

December was busy, it started off with me house sitting while very sick with a major sinus infection/head cold... to then working literally every day through till Christmas. I don't know how people with 2 or more jobs do it. Holy cow, it kicked my butt. I had very little time to go out for pictures, or get ready for Christmas. December is normally one of my favorite times of the year, but retail quickly kills that spirit for me. I want to be able to savor the season... I knew I was going to have issues, but adding in Church commitments (that once again I took on too much and I got criticized for it) and then a second job just threw me over the edge.

Still I had a few opportunities to break out the camera - we got another road kill a week or so before Christmas, and dad threw the bones out into the backyard for the ravens and magpies to feast on... and just like this past spring, an Eagle showed up. It was definitely a different bird from the last time as this one was skittish and once I took his picture he hasn't been back. Bummer! They're such awesome creatures. I managed to snap a few photos before he flew away. Not as many as the ones that came last time, but a few.

Then, the Sunday before Christmas I was able to go out onto the Kenai River to shoot some Engagement/Family photos for a former coworker of mine and her fiance. SO much fun! I have definitely missed shooting. Hopefully I get to do more of it now that most of my day/evening isn't eaten up by going to work in Soldotna!

I managed to snap a few of the area I was shooting that day, too... I LOVE the Kenai River in every season.

Enjoy the photos.

There are more under the cut, as always...

Midnight on the Kenai in July.

I attended Conway Seavey's Concert in the Park on Saturday night. Show went from 8pm to midnight, and was really good! It's hard to think of the littlest Seavey as all grown up, but he is. If you were in the area and didn't go, you missed out on lovely weather and good entertainment.

But that's not what this post is about. I left around 11:30 (a whole 2 hours after I'd planned to leave as I had to be up early for church on Sunday), and on my way home noticed that the sky was bursting with patterns or light. So I pulled over when I got into Kenai and headed for the bluff to see what the river and inlet looked like.

I was not disappointed.

Even the dipnetter campsites were nice to photograph. It was the first weekend and the run isn't at its strongest, yet, so the beaches aren't as littered... yet. I expect that to change this week.

Anyway, here are my favorites from the other night. Love that midnight light!

Dear visiting dipnetters

To the 10,000+ visitors headed down to the Kenai Peninsula this weekend to hit the mouth of the Kenai River and dipnet for red salmon to stock their freezers I have one request - please be respectful. I know, it's the biggest party of the summer for a lot of you. Camping on the beach, there's ample opportunity to drink too much and play a little too loud. Most weekends, that works out great, but when you look at the sheer size of the camping group it becomes dangerous.

So, please, be respectful. Pick up after yourself, catch and kill what you are legally allowed to - don't practice sadism by catching other types of fish and torture it before throwing its corpse back in the water. Keep the crime in your city of Anchorage, don't bring it with you. Kenai has it's own share of delinquents, we don't need the big city's problems as well. So if you feel like you need to have a knife fight, take it home. You're here to fish to supposedly provide for your family, keep that as the only priority.

I know it's hard to use common sense when you're cold, tired, maybe drunk or hung over, but don't go out farther than you need to. Trying to wade into the middle of the mouth of the river will not ensure you catching more fish. News flash, they typically run closer to shore. Our first responders are too busy dealing with knife fights and drunk and disorderly - they can't be floating up and down the water 24/7 to rescue your butt.

With that in mind, don't overload your boat and swamp it. You lose everything, a lot of waste happens, and it's expensive for our town to rescue your butt.

Take your time getting here. I know, I know, the best camping spots go early - but if you're traveling this weekend to get here I hate to break it to you: they're already taken. I was down at the beach the other day and folks are already parked and camped. Sorry, you're too late. So stop playing chicken on an already overly dangerous road system. There are 10,000 of you coming this way, you want to get here, right? So take it slow, give other drivers their space, and enjoy the drive. It should be the least stressful part of your dipnet experience.

When you get to town, don't treat it like a Tickle-Me-Elmo sale on Black Friday. No fights need to happen in the checkout line because the last case of Miller Light, or the last bag of Doritos was taken right out from under you. If you HAVE to have the "fun stuff" bring it from home where your big city has several major box stores that have shipments almost daily. We don't.

Yes, I know we know you're coming. Yes, I know we can be prepared. We are, but it seems like you come in like locusts taking everything! It looks like a warzone in Fred Meyers the entire month of July. That isn't us, that's you. We do our best to host you, try and be a nice guest for a change.

Speaking of locusts, we have tried very hard to accommodate your camping needs, you food needs, your walking needs. Follow the signs. Don't destroy a VERY DELICATE ecosystem just because you can. You don't have to live with the consequences, we do. Maybe if your property taxes went up each year to deal with the extra cost of taking care of the mess you'd think differently - but, then again, I doubt it.

Take your limit and leave. Yes, we see you - taking a few extra. Or worse those groups - who I won't describe for fear of the PC police coming down on me - that get dozens of extras to use in their family owned restaurants. Uh-uh. That's not what Subsistence fishing is. This is a PERSONAL USE thing. You want to sell the fish or cook it up for pay? Yeah, you need to go to the COMMERCIAL FISHERIES. We have several in our area you can go and pick up from.


I know, I come off as sounding crazy angry. It's not just because my 20 minute commute will double for the next three weeks. It's not because I can't use the beach in relative quiet. It's just that this has gotten ridiculously out of hand in the last few years. Yes, I know it's not JUST people from Anchorage - the locals get nutso, too. And trust me, I rant about our issues just as much. But TEN THOUSAND extra potential problems arise when you arrive. So PLEASE, for the love of all things holy, BE RESPECTFUL. Let's make this a positive experience this year. If you promise to play nice, I promise not to rant about you next year.

"They're like locusts... After they've consumed every natural resource they move on..." - President Thomas Whitmore (Bill Pullman, Independence Day)

Kenai, Alaska in January... a photo filled blog post

Sunrise... Sunset...

Or, rather, Sunset... Sunrise. I forgot to share the sunset pictures I took last night (not all that exciting, colors were missing again) and today I switched it up and took sunrise photos. I was already out and about when the sun came into the sky. These were taken on the beach as well as on the bluff. You'll be able to tell where in the pictures each one was taken.

I'm killing time till the week of my birthday... The Flash comes back on the 20th, Arrow (and my birthday) comes back on the 21st... and then Sons of Liberty (MICHAEL RAYMOND-JAMES!) hits TV on the 25th. I'm going to be one happy fangirling couch potato.

Kittens & Cats of the Kenai Animal Shelter- Sept 3 portraits

There are a lot of kittens this week at the Kenai Animal Shelter. Two big litters of them. And some of the kittens were itty bitty (they're up for adoption at the earliest this weekend). There was a runt - a little all black kitten with blue eyes - that Kassy and I both fell in love with. He(?) is feisty and shows no fear. Very friendly. He's so tiny that I dubbed him Frodo. I may have gone overboard taking his picture.

I am really enjoying volunteering at the shelter. I'm going to miss doing it while on vacation. I might miss some super cute animals! I reminded Cora about my being gone and she looked super worried, whenever they don't have pictures of the animals the adoptions go down because people aren't coming in as often to see who is available. It's weird. Though honestly I never went to the shelter to look... but the pictures at least gave me an idea of what they had.

It's been super busy with huge turn over of animals at the shelter this week. Most of the faces were brand new and it was getting full. It's the end of summer and I guess that's a time of year that people begin dropping off their former pets. Great time if you're looking for a forever friend. If you're in Kenai swing by and check them out. Can't take one home? Volunteer your time to give the animals the love and attention they deserve.