Ground Reconnaissance

Since all of our treks include large stretches of canyon, we needed a vehicle that could navigate canyon floors through a variety of obstacles. We chose a Jeep chassis and frame and built a complete undercarriage from the ground up. The result is the Purple Crawler that you see here. It can crawl over a 5 foot, near-vertical rock, drive through 4 feet of rushing water, climb a 70 degree incline and basically navigate most any canyon on our treks. Exceptions are deep rivers and waterfalls.

Canyon Reconnaissance is much more difficult than most aerotrekking reconnaissance. Distances are generally shorter, but the ground terrain is substantially more daunting. Many canyons have streams, rivers or rapids running through them. This requires either driving through water or navigating a steep incline laterally. Boulders, landslides and other obstructions litter the floors. Sheer cliffs restrict maneuverability. And breakdowns can require hikes of many miles through harsh conditions.

We owe everything to our ground recon crew. They came up with great routes that meet all the aerotrekking criteria.