No my wagon wasn't running than (and is still being resurrected). I was a poser in a Forester.
There was really only one place going through High Rock Canyon where I thought I should have been in "a real 4wd" and was glad I didn't have to go back up it. But I travel with two spares, a tire repair kit, a come-along, tow strap, rope, shovel, etc. in my Forester, so its good for most things -- just not extremely rough, steep bouldering, etc. The cold weather helped. Streams are easier to cross when they're frozen.
There were no closures that I was aware of at that particular time, but I may have missed something. I certainly wouldn't knowingly disturb any mountain sheep nuptials.
By the way, here's my wife on one of our hikes last summer along the Carson Trail, headed up from Caples Lake to +9,000-foot West Pass.
Looking up the westbound wagon trail:
Looking down the eastbound wagon trail:
This wagon road was first used by Mormons going eastbound in July 1848 and then was heavily used by an estimated 50,000 westbound immigrants to California starting that fall. The Nevada silver mining boom in the 1860s prompted business interests, who wanted the trade traffic, to construct a shorter, easier way (the current route of Hwy 88 via Kirkwood and Silver Lake) that avoided West Pass.
