The upper part of the road is very steep and rocky. I've driven up and down it in a SAR vehicle in compound low gear. The stream crossings are pretty shallow just now, but will fill up when it rains.
Yes, I am very glad I did not attempt to drive up it. I did check it out today. The trail was dry up until 8,500 ft or so. After that there were occasionally patches of soft snow in the shade, 0-2 inches deep, possibly from last night's storm. They may melt out soon. I stopped at 8,800 ft due to lack of daylight for the walk down. Looking up at the ridge, the snow coverage looked pretty sparse.
What I saw for most of the walk up
This is at 8,800 ft. Road 6S02L is to the left. Note sparseness of snow on the ridge.
Got to explore a couple of interesting caves too. Next time I'll go up the Old Silver Canyon Trail, which splits from the road shortly before the steep switchbacks.
