The roads you are talking about would make for a very scenic trip through the Sequoia National Monument. I believe the roads are open, although I'm not 100 percent sure of that, but you would absolutely need to bring, and be prepared to use chains. This trip would take you into the mountains, and snow would very much be a possibility.

Going beyond that, I don't see that as a particularly feasable trip to do in one day. Even with good conditions, I'd estimate that it would take at least an extra 3-4 hours compared to taking CA-58 and CA-99. You'd already be looking at a long day trying to see some of death valley and make it to Visalia via the expressways. Trying to add even more into this day would make it virtually impossible to stop at anything along the way.