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cious effort to veer left. So, these last couple of weeks have been a refreshing mindset for me.</p><figure id="de10"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*tM2q0N9F0KYj-k9IYasrWg.jpeg"><figcaption>Humpback Whale “fluke.” Photo ©Erika Burkhalter.</figcaption></figure><p id="c482">I have so many stories and photos to share with you — from Humpback Whales <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble-net_feeding">bubble-net feeding</a>, to the night the sky caught on fire, to the icy-cold day when the icebergs glowed as if lit from within near the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeConte_Glacier">LeConte Glacier</a>. We’ve seen rescued raptors and bears, and wild harbor seals lounging on pads of ice. We’ve visited small <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlingit">Tlingit</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Haida">Haida</a> villages and heard about the stories woven into their totem poles and basketry. We visited Petersberg, a little town of Norwegian settlers, and saw their children perform a dance for us while wearing traditional Norwegian <a href="https://www.lifeinnorway.net/bunad/">Bunads</a> embroidered with representations of local flowers.</p><figure id="ab23"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*9_1sKL_3EIbt21mmLXBJYw.jpeg"><figcaption>“Fire in the Sky.” Photo ©Erika Burkhalter.</figcaption></figure><figure id="7454"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*pjszTAwuXoCnBiQaWLh9HQ.jpeg"><figcaption>The LeConte Glacier on a very rainy day. Photo ©Erika Burkhalter.</figcaption></figure><p id="4aa5">I have thousands of photos and pages and pages of journal entries, which will take a while to process. So, for now, I want to share just a few highlights with you. As I work my way through the photo

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s, I’ll tell you more about the Alaskan Dream adventure we’ve just returned from.</p><figure id="f237"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*mRhwTj95BG2w4wwDeutoTw.jpeg"><figcaption>Me and my Honey in front of the LeConte Glacier.</figcaption></figure><p id="72d8"><i>Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).</i></p><p id="909c">You might also enjoy:</p><div id="f829" class="link-block"> <a href="https://psiloveyou.xyz/pedaling-into-the-soft-embers-of-a-summer-evening-e162d2619cd8"> <div> <div> <h2>Pedaling into the Soft Embers of a Summer Evening</h2> <div><h3>A bike ride through the thistles</h3></div> <div><p>psiloveyou.xyz</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*lqRQ5Ja7U7rJYCAJCqGslA.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="edf3" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/unplugged-in-india-5e854840af49"> <div> <div> <h2>Unplugged in India</h2> <div><h3>Floating through a dream</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*L0paW8oC6ISE37Kp3YRyAw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="aa66">Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.</p></article></body>

Tracy Arm Fjord. Photo ©Erika Burkhalter.

Photography, Travel

Back from Alaska

A trip of a lifetime

I’ve just returned from Southeast Alaska, where I’ve, literally, been unplugged for most of the last two weeks. My husband and I had a few days in Juneau and Sitka on either end of the trip, but we spent a week onboard a 32-passenger catamaran, cruising around the Inside Passage.

We had no internet on the boat, and only occasional bars on our phones when we would pull into a small port for a few hours. And then my phone decided to take a swim in the frigid ocean waters. Or maybe a scuba-dive! I’m still awaiting the replacement one. And I have to say that I’m not really missing the constant connection with the world very much.

I had an experience like this several years ago, in India, when we found ourselves out in the Rhajastani countryside with no cell service for the next two weeks. At first, I went a little nuts with the thwarted habitual desire to post photos to Facebook (this preceded Instagram for me). But I settled into such a wonderful mental groove after a while that I swore I would never go back being so addicted to the phone.

But, of course, we all drift back into the arms of modern technology unless we make a conscious effort to veer left. So, these last couple of weeks have been a refreshing mindset for me.

Humpback Whale “fluke.” Photo ©Erika Burkhalter.

I have so many stories and photos to share with you — from Humpback Whales bubble-net feeding, to the night the sky caught on fire, to the icy-cold day when the icebergs glowed as if lit from within near the LeConte Glacier. We’ve seen rescued raptors and bears, and wild harbor seals lounging on pads of ice. We’ve visited small Tlingit and Haida villages and heard about the stories woven into their totem poles and basketry. We visited Petersberg, a little town of Norwegian settlers, and saw their children perform a dance for us while wearing traditional Norwegian Bunads embroidered with representations of local flowers.

“Fire in the Sky.” Photo ©Erika Burkhalter.

The LeConte Glacier on a very rainy day. Photo ©Erika Burkhalter.

I have thousands of photos and pages and pages of journal entries, which will take a while to process. So, for now, I want to share just a few highlights with you. As I work my way through the photos, I’ll tell you more about the Alaskan Dream adventure we’ve just returned from.

Me and my Honey in front of the LeConte Glacier.

Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).