Late in the afternoon of Friday, September 17, Sean and I headed up into Arches National Park one last time (on this second trip to Moab, at least). There were two major Arches, both near the Devils Garden section of the Park, that we still had never seen: Broken Arch and Sand Dune Arch. During our other times in the Park, both on this trip and the previous year, we’d simply prioritized hiking to other arches. After Sean had unfortunately had to spend the majority of that day working, at least he’d be able to get out and stretch his legs in some astounding scenery.

It was so late in the day that the entrance station was closed as we drove in. We wound up onto the plateau and drove along most of the length of the Park Road to get out to the parking area for both Arches. I set the Jeep’s cruise control to the road’s speed limit, much to the apparent annoyance of two cars behind us wanting to speed on the Park Road.

Yeah, no.

If getting the other cars to slow down saves even one animal, it’s worth it.

It was 4:30pm when we arrived at the almost empty parking area and started down the gravel path toward a huge set of sandstone fins.

Sand Dune Arch is hidden within the grouping of fins, which comprise about the northernmost extent of the Fiery Furnace section of formations.

The trail was a little icy as we passed into the gallery of fins.

When we arrived at the arch, some dudes were trying, very unsuccessfully, to climb it. Once they gave up, we went over and took our photos of it.

Reemerging from the fins, we turned right at the fork in the trail and headed the half mile toward Broken Arch.

The arch is at the southeastern edge of a large grouping of fins and formations that leads into the Devils Garden area.

It was a cold, but beautiful afternoon. High, thin clouds muted and softened the late afternoon light.

Peekaboo.

Broken Arch isn’t actually broken. A crack just makes it appear to be so.

The trail may go right through the arch, but the approach from the south is a little steep and slick even without ice.

Off to the east, the wintry La Sal Mountains were distractingly beautiful.

The trail continues as a loop through the campground, but that part of the path we would leave untrodden.

We carefully made our way back down out of the arch and headed the 0.6 miles back to the Jeep.

But we weren’t quite done with Arches National Park. We still had about half an hour of daylight left, so we headed toward the Windows to take in the sunset.