
SS Excelsior – 28 July 1897
Today, 7 June, is the first Walter Harper Day. Harper, whom I have written about on here before, is one of my favorite historical Alaskans.
It was on this day in 1913, when Harper became the first known person to stand on the summit of Denali.
Harper tragically died at the age of 25, along with his young bride, Frances Wells Harper, with the sinking of the Princess Sophia in 1918.
Photo credit: National Weather Service – Fairbanks
A smokenado rose up from a wildfire near Fairbanks. Over the weekend, 23 new wildfires were started by lightning in Alaska. The sheer number of strikes was impressive: there were 1860 recorded lightning strikes on Saturday, and an additional 2900 by 8pm on Sunday.
Wildfires are the last thing that is needed right now, on top of everything else going on, but the month of May has been dry across much of Alaska, so the scent of wildfires was not a surprise.