We hiked from the Bluff Mountain trailhead to Little Baldy.

Perfect day for this adventure.  Sunny skies and nice fall color.

Trail is in good condition, the trek to the top of Baldy is a fairly easy scramble.

I started at the trailhead at the end of FS road 41, which isn't too bad compared to other roads in the area, but will definitely be easiest with a high clearance vehicle. After about 9 miles on 41, you dead-end into a wide gravel parking lot with amazing views of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams. The first two miles are along on old road bed, and it seems some ATV folks still use it. I don't live to hike on trails like this, but the first two miles are worth it once you dip down and the tread surfaces turns into a nice tread surface. The trail from here on out is a little overgrown in sections, but is easy to follow. I made it to Little Baldy and stopped for lunch to enjoy the views and chatted with some other day hikers who were training for a section hike of the PCT. I continued on to Silver Star for some more incredible views. This was a beautiful and peaceful hike. I was a little early in the season for berry pickin', but from the looks of it, there will be plenty to munch on later in the season.

We started steeply up from the Grouse Vista trailhead on Bluff Mountain Trail #172. This is not my favorite approach to Silver Star, due to the rough, rocky old roadbed underfoot and a lot more walking in the woods, but it definitely is a shorter drive from the Vancouver-Portland area. When we emerged from the forest, we could see clouds enveloping Silver Star and Sturgeon Rock. Down on the lower slopes, the wild flowers were in full summer bloom. This is a fabulous bear grass year in an area known for its bear grass displays. When we reached the first junction, we turned right and traversed around on the east side of Pyramid Rock (incorrectly labeled on USGS maps, as is Sturgeon Rock). Cardwell's penstemon brightened the trailside. We climbed the brushy route along the east side of the ridge, watching out for mountain beaver holes in the path or undermining it. At the junction with Silver Star Trail #180 at the top, we were inside the clouds and getting damp. We proceeded northward for another half mile on Trail #180 to the junction with the trail (old road) coming up from Sturgeon Rock on the west and the trail to the Indian Pits on the right. At this point, both the roads-to-trails and the Indian Pits trail had pretty extensive and substantial snowbanks. The elevation is just over 4,000 feet. Since there would not be a view if we continued upward, we decided to make this intersection the turnaround point and head back down out of the clouds. The forecast clearing was not as strong as the TV weathermen had promised. On our return, we stayed on Trail #172 on the west side of Pyramid Rock where we saw stunning displays of avalanche lilies, paintbrush and other wild flowers.

I had more problems finding the trailhead than could ever be had on the trail itself. The 41 road is a little rough in a few places for my Elantra, but slow and steady get the hiker to the trailhead. The flowers in this setting right now are great. Huckleberry, Blueberry and Salmonberries were the staple vegetation while prominent flowers included paintbrush, lupine, agoseris, columbine, spirea, penstemon and bunch berry among others. This year, the third week of July is near the height of the summer flower season at Silver Star. I climbed to the top of Little Baldy Peak, but ran out of time to get to the top of Silver Star itself. The trail is in great shape.