Most 2WD cars, driven carefully, can make the first half-mile. Personally, I wouldn't go any further than that. The stream crossing was no problem, though care must be taken on the exit. Water level was fine. After about 2.5 miles the road becomes rougher. As I recall, there were at least three or four rough sections that may give you pause, especially if you're in a stock truck like I was. At about 3.8 miles, or so (my odometer isn't precise and my wheels did some spinning), there's a washed-out section on the shelf road that has been crudely reinforced. Going up it was a little dicey, especially due to the fact that I don't have lockers so my wheels spun a bit (and any error would have sent us tumbling hundreds of feet down the slope). Going down that section, by the way, wasn't a problem. It looked like snow blocked the last section of road, so I stopped at the last switchback (12,550' / below the Montezuma Mine) so that I didn't drive all the way up there just to find the road blocked, and then have to back up the whole way down (on that sketchy shelf road, no less). As it turned out, the road is clear all the way to the upper "parking lot." One lone Toyota was parked there. Overall, it took us about 50 minutes to drive from the beginning of the dirt road to the switchback at 12,550'.
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