After driving 6 hours through the desert in Utah we arrived to Escalante thirsty and tired. Our accommodation luckily had a small and reasonably priced restaurant, so we sat down at a table to order our well-deserved draft beers. The waitress nicely and politely informed us, that according to state legislation one cannot order alcoholic beverages without ordering food, so we need to order dinner before we can get any beer. This information came to us as a shock, and as we have already bought some Subway sandwiches on our way, we were not at all hungry. Kasper got very annoyed; called Utah his own personal hell and vowed never return again after our trip. We ended up buying 2 beers at the nearby gas station, where we also learned that Utah law sets a limit of 3.2 percent alcohol by weight in beer sold in convenience stores, and stronger alcohol is only available in State Liquor Stores, clubs and restaurant with a certain license, none of which are to be found in the middle of nowhere, where Escalante actually is located. So we basically had to settle for some rat piss instead of real beer in Utah. Kasper was very disappointed and decided to stick to pure water.We have chosen to stay in Escalante, because it is located between the two national parks we wanted to visit; Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument and Bryce Canyon National Park. We had one day in each park, and it was enough to see them and do some hikes.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is essentially 7,700 square km sun-drenched Utah backcountry with colorful sandstone cliffs and picturesque canyons. This beautiful scenery can be enjoyed from Highway 89 which we drove along on our way to Escalante.
The next day we went on a hike to the Calf Creek Falls, which according to the park's visitor center is one of the most well-known and unique features in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The trail was excellent; we walked virtually alone between mineral-streaked cliffs of Navajo Sandstone in a lush canyon. I really like this type of hikes, because one can truly enjoy nature without being disturbed by others.

The ancient Fremont Culture inhabited Utah from AD 700 to AD 1300. They lived in pithouses and created distinctive rock art, an example of which can be found on the canyon wall - see the three figures painted with red pigment on the picture below.At the end of the hike we were rewarded with the cool mist of the Calf Creek Falls, which was very refreshing and romantic.The next day we visited the spectacular Bryce Canyon National Park, which is full of wondrous sorbet-colored hoodoo formations. Actually here is the largest collection of hoodoos in the world.

These spire-shaped rock formations are formed by two weathering processes that continuously work together in eroding the edges of the plateau; frost wedging and rainwater. 

The red, orange and white colors of the rocks together with the incredibly blue sky provide breathtaking views.

The cool thing about Bryce Canyon National Park is that one can actually walk among these amazing rock formations. We have combined the Navajo Loop and the Queens Garden trail and walked for about 3 hours amongst the hoodoos.

I guess someone had a lot of time on his hands, because some of the rock formations have been given names according to their resemblance. We have seen Thor's hammer, Gulliver's castle, and we have taken a picture of her majesty, Queen Elizabeth - she is sitting on the top of the hoodoo in the middle.Bryce Canyon was the best national park, we have visited in Utah. We liked it, because it was very unique, had spectacular trails and outlooks, the visitor center had a good interactive exhibition and the transportation was easy with the free shuttles. I can definitely recommend this national park to everyone.