I’d stop at 180 grit to ensure the stain is evenly taken up on the body, though you can go a bit higher on the endgrain as this will tend to absorb more stain and look darker. Though you can also use a weaker stain solution on it and a stronger one (or more applications on the rest).

Make sure you are sanding in the direction of the grain on the end grain. You can’t do more than that. Sanding across the grain at an angle will leave far more visible sanding marks, which may be why yours is looking ‘cloudy’.