The temperature here at GCNP, at least above the rim, is very nice this month to our surprise. Daytime highs in the 90’s and dipping down below 50 overnight. The kids discovered a very nice tree right on the edge of the campsite that was perfect for climbing and within no time they had made their way to the tip top of it repeatedly! Today, we had a full day to explore GCNP and planned to take advantage of it. With all 9 of us in tow, we drove down and luckily found parking spots right near the historic district. The Historic District has a train that arrives late each morning with thousands of guest who view the canyon for several hours and then make the return train ride. GCNP has a wonderful 12+ mile trail that goes along the rim of the canyon and is aptly named, the Rim Trail. 5-6 miles of it are east of the historic district and the other 6-8 miles are west.
No description does it justice.
The road that roughly parallels the trail to the west is called Hermit Road and is only accessible by shuttle bus nine months of the year (from February-October). The other 3 months, car traffic is allowed due to fewer guests at the park in the deep winter. Our plan for the late morning and afternoon was to do a combination of hiking and shuttle bus riding along the roughly 8-9 mile western route. The shuttle bus makes 9 stops on its way to the western end of the road at “Hermits Rest” which makes for easy on and offs of the shuttle. What makes the Rim Trail so special to me are the incredible views along a mostly easy and relatively flat trail. Most spectacular views require very strenuous trails to get there and this trail is a great exception. Over the next several hours, different parts of our group hiked/shuttle bussed to Hermit’s Rest while enjoying a nice picnic lunch along the way. Victoria and I got hiker of the day awards with hiking over 5.5 miles of the trail. She was pushing me to do the last 2.8 miles but my worn out feet just couldn’t do it! 
The views along most all of the trail and at the different viewpoints were spectacular. Definitely one of our favorite hikes ever! We all rode the shuttle bus back to the beginning at the historic district and headed back to the campground for some late afternoon rest for our weary feet! We headed out early evening and had a nice casual dinner at the Maswik Lodge area at the food court and then headed over to Mather Point to catch the setting sun. We arrived about 20 minutes before official sunset and over the next 45 minutes watched one of the most beautiful sunsets we had ever seen. The canyon walls and sky behind it were beautiful shades of orange, reds, and purples as the sun set. A fantastic day here in majestic Grand Canyon!
Sunset over Grand Canyon from Mather Point