Thanks all.
Smoke, Briceland road was very good, I was nervous about it's possible condition, but it was great and we didn't meet any other vehicles the entire stretch. I wonder though if we had the last good passage of the year. We did slide sideways a bit on one downhill that was exposed to the sprinkles, so I can't imagine what it is like when fully wet. Someone had recently put the road into winter ready condition by improving the rolling dips and ditch outs to get the water off the road, which will serve it well if someone doesn't rut it up. After the rain that fell later that day I'd guess it turned into a slick sloppy mess. We held off on our decision to go that way until the morning, and when we woke to still dry conditions we packed up and headed that way. It was good because that was the section of road we didn't get to see in 2016 due to rain when we were at Needle Rock (travelling south that time).
Cayuse, I highly recommend a trip to Usal, I don't know what it is like in the summer but our two visits in November have been memorable.