2016 Land Cruiser under the Northern Lights in Interior Alaska: a strong Aurora lights up the sky above the Land Cruiser.

Toyota Land Cruiser Aurora

The current design is expected to be the final iteration of the 200 series and will carry through to the 2018 model year. The next generation Land Cruiser will be unveiled as a 2019 model.

For 2016, the aging Toyota Land Cruiser 200 series, now in its 9th year, received a much needed facelift inside and out.

Toyota Land Cruiser Facelift

The current design is expected to be the final iteration of the 200 series and will carry through to the 2018 model year. The next generation Land Cruiser will be unveiled as a 2019 model.

Taking the Land Cruiser to the beaten paths of interior Alaska. On this trip, not a sole in sight, for as far as the eyes can see...

Toyota Land Cruiser Facelift

Going to the top of a ridge line to enjoy the view of the valley below...

Living in Alaska is an adventure by itself. The wilderness begins a mere 30 miles from home, even if you live in Anchorage, the largest city in the 49th state. As you drive out of town, the busy streets and glaring city lights in your rear view mirror quickly fade into a beautiful landscape.

Land Cruiser Mt McKinley

After driving hundreds of miles, you realize how small and insignificant you are in this huge land, and sometimes the paved road in front of you is the only hint of civilization.

When you're in the middle of nowhere, mechanical failures can become a serious predicament. Being the adventurers that we are, braving the extreme cold and facing adverse driving conditions in the Arctic, the known reliability of the Land Cruiser is our best bet to make it back home safely.

In the Middle of Nowhere ...

On this trip, we're taking the Toyota Land Cruiser above the Arctic Circle. We follow the narrow path winding through the white landscape and leading us North. The ice has taken its grip just about everywhere the eyes can see.

Land Cruiser in the Arctic

Even the roads are covered with a thick layer of ice for hundreds of miles on the Dalton Highway, rendering driving conditions extremely treacherous. Hitting the brakes, even gently, triggers the ABS every time.

Atigun Pass is probably the most "gut wrenching" part of the trip, climbing to 4643 feet in elevation on snow and ice covered roads. Fortunately, we did not have to share the road with any of the huge tractor trailers at the time we engaged Atigun Pass.

Hang on to your seats while going down Atigun Pass in winter. We're experiencing what the "Ice Road Truckers" are going through every day on the Dalton Highway in winter.

Alaskan nights can be cold with long periods of darkness in the winter, but the stars are particularily bright, making the Milky Way easily visible.

After a long cold night under the starry sky, we wait for the sun to slowly rises above the horizon, illuminating the snowy mountain range in warm pastel colors. It's the start of a beautiful day in Alaska.

Being in Alaska, we often take pictures of the Northern Lights, and tonight they are particularily active, teasing us in the night sky above... It's a calling for adventure that we and our Land Cruiser could not pass in spite of the bitter cold winter.

Becoming night photographers, we explore the frozen Alaskan landscape in the wee hours of the night till dawn finally marks the start of a new day.

The LC200 feels right at home, and there is no other truck we'd rather be in while roaming this vast inhospitable land.

Outfitted with a Land Cruiser 200 series, we are on an Aurora hunt during the Alaskan winter. On this night, the temperature dips to 30�F below zero.

Land Cruiser with Aurora

It's a fairly windy night, and with the windchill factor, the temperature feels like 50�F below. Even the lens shows sign of frost on the front element. In spite of the heavy winter gear we are wearing, we can only stay out a few minutes at a time, coming back to the safety and comfort of the Land Cruiser.

Catching the final wave of Northern Lights for the night before we call it good.

It's another frigid day in January in interior Alaska, with temperatures reaching 40�F below zero this time. Yes, the gauge from the Land Cruiser can actually read that low a temperature (That's a big improvement over the 4Runner which can only read 22 below). The extreme cold did not deter us from enjoying the beautiful snowy landscape, especially when Mount McKinley is visible in a distance.

The Land Cruiser has 285/65R18 BF Goodrich TA/KO tires. In these extremely cold temperatures, the tire pressure drops by approximately 6 PSI.