Overcast and blowing like crazy, making it a bit chilly, but a great hike nonetheless...lots of fall colors, only one other person on the trail, amazing views. Roads to the trailhead are all passible, on 4109 there's a few bumpy spots, but in my high clearance 4x4 they were more fun then problematic.
As advertised, the first couple of miles are intense...nearly straight up and slick in spots. Trails itself in this section is general clear and maintained, some of the water channel work appears to be more informal, but nice to see that folks are making the effort to try and keep the trail passable!
Once above the huff-n-puff section the trail is fairly overgrown, but pretty easy to follow. A few big blowdowns that in some cases appear to have been around a while as user trails has been established to get around them. Hit sporadic snow above 4000', and all very passible.
Ended up not going to Sliver Star, but headed east instead to the base of Little Baldy. Could see St. Helens, Adams, Hood, and way off in the distance Jefferson, as the cloud cover was high. This section of the Mt. Bluff Trail was in good shape; clear easy to navigate.
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