We started at the Grouse Vista trailhead and took the old road and the Pyramid trail up Silver Star. Drove in via the directions in the "Columbia Gorge" hiking book, taking the L-1200 road up from the Washougal River Road. The road in wasn't nearly as bad as we were expecting - low clearance vehicles should be able to make it just fine. We came out via the Dole Valley Road, which had been recently improved - low clearance vehicles shouldn't have a problem with that road either.
The first part of the trail is steep and rocky, gaining 500 feet in the first half mile. I had to place my feet carefully to avoid aggravating ankle issues. The grade eases when you come out of the woods. The trail passes under Pyramid Mountain before entering the woods again, where it becomes steep.
There were some small, lingering snow patches in shady areas around 3000 feet. With forecasted warm temps this week, I expect these will disappear within a week or two. From 3600 feet all the way to the summit, the trail was covered in snow. It had a pretty decent boot path, and the snow was soft. We did not need microspikes. Got pretty slushy on the way down. The snow is pretty wet and heavy, and there are a few places where it is weighting down trees - go carefully and try not to widen the trail.
Views were absolutely spectacular from the summit. We could see at least seven volcanoes, although the WA ones were rather moody, with clouds obscuring the peaks. Mt. Hood was putting on a show!
One word of warning - I highly recommend downloading a map onto your phone and/or using GPS up top, especially if you're going to hike Silver Star in the snow. There are multiple trails up there, and it is easy to get off track or miss your turn. We did that going down, and thankfully only had to backtrack about a quarter of a mile to get on the "right" trail.
Overall, it was a great day. Sazi the Adventure Hound gives this trail four paws out of four. She especially enjoyed rolling around in the snow, and making new puppy friends at the summit.
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