I'm continuing to venture out, trying to summit some straggler peaks in various quadrangles in the area. We are near the end of the spring thaw, no new snow in the past couple weeks, so skiing is terrible, and yet the roads into the deeper backcountry are to muddy to risk getting stuck this far from home.

Only two peaks exist in the Burns Knoll-UT quadrangle, Burns Knoll a small mountain which I ran to the top and back in under 10 minutes last September and Can Knoll. How this tiny bump of rock garnered a name and place on a map is beyond me, but the name and peak exists.

Can Knoll; Beaver County; Burns Knoll-UT quad; Rise: 26’; Unranked

The small rise straddles a fence line, with the highest elevation being on the western side of the fence. I could drive to and up the peak, but this isn't my land, so I park just beyond the cattle guard and begin the hike. The GPS marks the summit at .69 miles away. Over a mile round trip seems hardly worth the effort for such a speck, but I get my pack and start down the cattle trail.

The trail follows the fence, and I step around muddy areas. I hardly notice the rise as it begins to occur, and I do find a mildly steeper drop on the south face making a pleasant view of Blue Mountain. Returning to the Fj, I mentally check the quadrangle as complete and smile at my extremely minor victory of the Burns Knoll quadrangle.

My next peak will be Twelvemile Knoll in the Picacho Peak - UT, quadrangle. Twelvemile Knoll will be my first ascent in the quad and another minor peak in the area. The small mountain exists near a gravel road, which is why I chose it for today.

Twelvemile Knoll; Beaver County; Picacho Peak-UT quad; Rise 205’; Unranked.

The hill is more substantial than I expected (compared to Can Knoll), and I'm able to park relatively close to where the rise begins. Hiking straight up the face, I connect with an elongated ridgeline and follow it to the rocky summit. I take a few minutes to eat a small snack and enjoy the diet coke I brought along. It's overcast and gloomy, so I decide to call it a day, but truth be told that any day on a summit is better than being almost anywhere else.