By Davy Crockett

Running the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim and back is one of the ultimate experiences for ultrarunners. Before the Grand Canyon National Park was established in 1919, there were several individuals who helped to bring attention to the wonder of the world and set the stage for rim-to-rim travel in the future. In 1913, getting to the North Rim from Utah was still a difficult endeavor, requiring support and guides. Roads to the rim were still primitive. Traveling rim-to-rim involved nearly 100 Bright Angel Creek crossings and a dangerous climb up to the North Rim. Visitors to the Rim were mostly hunting parties, looking for big game hunts. But as more of the public reached the Canyon and told others of their spectacular rim-to-rim adventures, more efforts were made to open up the North Rim to anyone desiring to go there.



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J. Cecil Alter - Weatherman Adventurer

J. Cecil Alter

John Cecil Alter (1879-1964) was born in Indiana in 1879, the son of a civil engineer and surveyor. He studied at Purdue University in Indiana. In 1902, he moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, taking on an assistant position in the weather bureau office which oversaw 65 stations throughout the state. He soon married Jennie Oliva Greene (1874-1949) and quickly developed into an influential pillar in the community. He became widely published with papers such as, “Agriculture in the Great Basin.” By 1905, he became a frequent contributor to the local newspapers and developed a wide following. Besides his weatherman duties, he became an editor for a monthly magazine, The Salt Lake Outlook, with interesting articles about farming, mining, and business in Utah. In 1910, he took over as section director for the weather bureau office in Salt Lake.

By 1913, Alter was fascinated with the automobile and became experienced driving cars to tough places. He successfully drove up a rugged canyon road to Brighton Resort in Little Cottonwood Canyon above Salt Lake City. In August 1913, he set off from Salt Lake City, hoping to reach the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in three days and be the first person to drive an automobile all the way to the rarely visited North Rim trailhead at the head of Bright Angel Canyon.

Edwin D. Woolley Jr.

Four years earlier, in 1909, Edwin “Dee” Woolley Jr. (1846-1920) who had overseen the creation of the first trail down from the North Rim to the Colorado River took two automobiles on a round trip from Salt Lake City to his cabin on the North Rim, proving to skeptics that it was possible. He had shipped gas by horse wagon up to the Kaibab Plateau to support the vehicles, which had to receive many repairs along the way. The cars made it to within three miles of the Rim.

Alter wanted to prove that it was possible to drive all the way to the North Rim trailhead. During 1913, some rugged tourists visited the North Rim from Utah by horseback, horse wagons, and none were trying to get there in automobiles. To get there without getting lost, hired guides were needed from Woolley‘s company, because of the various networks of trails, cattle paths, and dirt roads on the Kaibab Plateau.

Alter's automobile nearing North Rim

Alter’s journey took place in August 1913 and Utah readers were fascinated with his adventure written up in newspapers across the state. He made the successful drive to the trailhead with his wife and another couple. They then drove an additional few miles to an overlook called Greenland. He praised efforts taking place to establish a usable road to the canyon by the forest service, and believed that the views on the North Rim were better than the South Rim. He wrote, “I confidently expect that every automobile that has the courage to start will return home on its own wheels and ...