Static Peak (and Greider Peak)

Overview

Static Peak is a minor summit located about eight miles northeast of Gold Bar, and about three miles southeast of Spada Lake. It is not particularly prominent (it is not even named on USGS maps), but its bare, avalanche scoured west face makes an impression from my home town of Lake Stevens. It is also a fine viewpoint, and an ascent of Static Peak may be combined with other minor summits on the connecting ridges. Not too many years ago, the Static Peak area was more famous for the rock climbing areas on the mountain's lower flanks. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case, as access to the Sultan Basin seems to get more difficult as the years go by. The climb to the summit of Static Peak has also become much more difficult recently, as the DNR and PUD have conspired to close much of the road following Spada Lake's south shore.

The first step in climbing Static Peak is to get yourself to Big Greider Lake (Elev. 2932'). In the past, this was a simple matter of driving to the DNR trailhead, and hiking the 2.5 mile trail to the lake. Now, an additional two miles of road walking is necessary, which would not be so bad if the road had been left in good shape. Unfortunately, all the culverts in this road have been dug out, making this part very tedious (a friend recently told me he counted 89 "tank traps" between the south shore trailhead and Boulder Lake trailhead!). My guess would be, that in the not too distant future, the trails to Greider Lakes and Boulder Lake will be badly overgrown, and all but forgotten. So, get out there and climb Static Peak while you still can!

Note: Static Peak and Greider Peak can also be approached from the west, but I am not familiar with these routes. Hopefully, these routes will get added to this page in the near future.

Static Peak rises above the south end of Big Greider Lake, so the next step will be to get yourself to the other end of the lake. You could certainly boulder hop and brush bash for half a mile to accomplish this, but I found it much easier to float across the lake in my trusty one man raft. Both the Green Trails map and the USGS map show a trail that climbs from the north end of Big Greider Lake up the east slopes of Greider Peak. Whether or not this trail could be utilized to gain access to the upper ridge, I do not know. It did not look very tempting the last time I looked at it, and is probably overgrown. Upon arriving at the far end of the lake, look for a steep gully that comes down from the saddle between Static Peak and Greider Peak. It is basically the last gully before the large cliffs on the south end of the lake. This class 3 scramble will give you brush free access to the upper ridge. It is marked by x's in the photo below - my apologies for the poor photo quality.



Scramble up 1400' to the 4300' saddle located at (N47 56.845 W121 35.444). Now turn left, and follow the obvious ridge south to the summit of Static Peak. Any deviations from the ridge should be made to the right (west side of the ridge). As I recall, the climbing towards the top was mostly class 3 (if anyone remembers differently, please let me know), and no rope or special equipment was required.

Images

View Static Peak (and Greider Peak) Image Gallery - 9 Images