I don’t like sand much myself. Many moons back I had a Nissan Xterra 4WD. It served me well and it was my field vehicle during my student days. I remember doing a field season deep into the needles district in Canyonlands National Park. Sand there was treacherous with no help around and I did not have a winch. Even with it may not helped much as there was little to tie your winch to!
I remember getting up and down the Elephant hill a few times for supplies. You would have loved it!
Another example, same place, you have to back in and turn in a few places