Point 7985 from Button Rock Preserve, 04/05/2008
Looking west from north side of Ralph Price Reservoir, 04/05/08
Point 7985 is ranked 66 on Roach's Boulder County Peaks list.
Our plan was to start at Button Rock Preserve parking area, hike up to Ralph Price Reservoir (named Button Rock Reservoir on older maps), then hike to its north end. From there we'd visit the points in the order of the list below, then return to the lake, and go back the way we came.
| Number | Description | Lat/Lon |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leave reservoir | 40.2247/105.3858 |
| 2 | Start of old road near Rattlesnake Gulch | 40.2335/105.3925 |
| 3 | Point 7985 | 40.2443/105.4065 |
| 4 | Saddle on southwest ridge | 40.2366/105.4099 |
We started hiking at 10:10, going up the gravel road that leads to Ralph Price Reservoir. At 1.43 miles, we turned right onto another gravel road, and in a couple tenths of a mile, turned left onto yet another gravel road which leads to the spillway.
Crossing over the spillway, which fortunately was dry, we followed the hiking trail along the north shore of Ralph Price Reservoir until we got to the western end of the lake. This point is about 4 miles from the start. There is a large "Attention Anglers" sign here, where a dirt road begins.
We followed the dirt road, which goes northwest, then turned right at a fork in the road, heading north. About 3/10 mile from the last fork, as the road turned sharply to the right, we left the road, continuing north through meadow about 2/10 mile before reaching an old faint unused dirt road, which we followed northwest as it ascended the ridge of Point 7985.
We followed the old faint unused dirt road until we reached a signed, pointing in the opposite direction of our travel, which said that the road in the direction we had come was closed to vehicular traffic. The road at that point was blocked.
We walked around the roadblock, then ascended an ATV trail up toward the summit. After this trail ended, the summit was only about 1/10 mile further. We reached the summit at 12:40, where the odometer showed 5.61 miles.
The summit itself is rather nice, with great views. We could see the south knob of Button Rock Mountain, Kenny Mountain, Twin Sisters, and the snowy group of Mount Meeker, Longs Peak, and Mount Lady Washington. There was no register on the summit. We had lunch just below the summit in a natural granite-enclosed wind break.
For our return, because of the lateness, we decided not to follow the southwest ridge of Point 7985 down, but to just return the way we had come. At this point I realized I had lost my cell phone somewhere along the way, so we slowly and carefully followed our footsteps back in hopes of finding it. We never found the cell phone, so if you ever find one along this route, please let me know.
We returned to the parking place at 16:25, where the odometer showed 11.6 miles. The elevation difference from lowest (parking area) to highest (summit) was 1,992 feet.
| Place name | Elev [ft] | Accuracy [ft] | Lat/Lon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parking area at Button Rock Preserve | 6029 | 16 | 40.22863/105.34176 |
| Point 7985 summit | 8021 | 14 | 40.24433/105.40621 |