Yes, I bought my TE with White Pocket and the Maze in mind and have done a ton of other desert backroads . I'm sure it's capable of much more.
A bit of rain would be good, of course, to damp down the sand.
White Pocket
White Pocket is great
I drove there early March year ago in my stock 2010 TE with BFG AT KO's. Had the same concerns as you beforehand, but in the the end the 4runner cruised it.
The article you linked to has a good map. I would strongly recommend that you take the furthest east...
