I decided to do some "Teanaway Recon" to see what conditions were like on some of the trails. The road to the Beverly Turnpike/Bean Creek trailhead was clear all the way. Once you turn off the gravel section of the N Fork road onto FR 9737, it's rough road, but easily passable (I drive a toyota tacoma).
The turnpike trail was in great condition with just a few small, downed trees that were easy for both my dog and I to get over. It was a moody and beautiful PNW day. The trail splits at about 2.5 miles, I headed east, planning to see how close I could get to the high notch near the Volcanic Neck. After the short climb, topping out at about 5600ft, the trail was completely snow covered. After some post-holing and slipping (snow was too soft for traction to help much), we turned around. Back down at the junction, we started towards El Dorado Pass, but again were turned around by snow fairly quickly.
Ran back down to the junction with the Bean Creek trail and headed up that way. That trail was free and clear all the way to the basin and beyond! Gorgeous and with so few trails open, there were quite a few people! There is one big creek crossing that has a log over it. I took the log and my pup ran through the water with no problem (on the high side). Further up there's another, easily passable creek crossing. The water is flowing fast and high right now, but neither felt dangerous to me.
All in all a great day seeing how things are clearing out in this area!
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