OHV Program Manager in the Inyo National Forest, Adam Leidy on Episode 314

This week, Big Rich chats with Adam Leidy, Off-Highway Vehicle and Over-Snow Program Manager on the Inyo National Forest. Adam’s NorCal roots run deep—raised by a forestry biologist, he grew up camping, chasing garter snakes, and logging time in an Isuzu Trooper before wrenching on a K5 Blazer and falling hard for Land Cruisers. After 9/11, Adam joined the Marine Corps as a motor transport mechanic; post-service he ran a landscaping business, then supported military aircraft logistics before finding his way home to the Forest Service.

It’s exciting to highlight a Forest Service employee who wheels just like the rest of us.  Adam shares some insight into what the job entails and how you can stay out of trouble in his jurisdiction.   Be sure to listen close, good stories ensue.

Transcript

[00:00:05.120] 

Welcome to Conversations with Big Rich. This is an interview style podcast. Those interviewed are all involved in the off road industry. Being involved, like all my guests are, is a lifestyle, not just a job. I talk to past, present and future legends as well as business owners, employees, media and land use warriors. Men and women who have found their way into this exciting and addictive lifestyle. We call off road. We discuss their personal history, struggles, successes and reboots. We dive into what drives them to stay active and off road. We all hope to shed some light on how to find a path into this world that we live and love and call off road.

[00:00:46.460] 

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[00:01:13.070] - Big Rich Klein

My guest this week grew up in Northern California as the son of a forestry biologist and learned to love the outdoors. After 9 11, he joined the Marine Corps doing three and a half years and eventually found his way into the Forest Service. My guest is Adam Leidy. Hello, Adam Leidy. How is it going today? I'm glad to get you on the podcast.

[00:01:41.240] - Adam Leidy

Hey, good afternoon. Everything is going wonderful, Excellent, excellent.

[00:01:46.440] - Big Rich Klein

So we met a couple of years ago on the Rebelle.

[00:01:52.840] - Adam Leidy

Yeah, that's correct. That was what, two, three years ago, I think now.

[00:01:56.000] - Big Rich Klein

Two, three years ago, we were down in your jurisdiction and you came up to, I think you came up to our checkpoint or something like that. But we saw you on the way and we conversed and here we are.

[00:02:11.370] - Adam Leidy

Yeah. This is awesome. Yeah, thanks for having me.

[00:02:14.090] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. So let's start at the very beginning. And where were you born and raised?

[00:02:20.650] - Adam Leidy

I was born in Sacramento, California.

[00:02:22.810] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, wow. Okay.

[00:02:24.410] - Adam Leidy

Yeah. Grew up, grew up in the Carmichael area.

[00:02:27.960] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. You're not old enough for it to be rural. It was still 50, was an interstate there right at that time.

[00:02:39.640] - Adam Leidy

But a lot of the, like the Roseville, Folsom, a lot of that area, Granite Bay, around there, hadn't really been developed like it is now.

[00:02:50.200] - Big Rich Klein

True. So you're more on the outskirts at least.

[00:02:53.940] - Adam Leidy

Yes, definitely.

[00:02:55.380] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. And what was it like growing up in that area?

[00:03:01.540] - Adam Leidy

It was awesome. You know, lots of things to do. We were not far from the mountains to go exploring or camping or go drive around on dirt roads. So it was, it's changed a lot. Sacramento, you know, has always been a big City. But now it's even bigger. Bigger?

[00:03:21.640] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, it's sprawl. Everywhere you look, they're just building more and more houses.

[00:03:27.800] - Adam Leidy

Yep. It's amazing. What is it? Highway 65 going towards Lincoln. I remember that. When that was just farm fields or just grass. And now it's just Costco's housing developments. You name it, it's all. It's all there.

[00:03:42.600] - Big Rich Klein

It's amazing, isn't it? I can't fathom where all the people are coming from,

[00:03:48.560] - Adam Leidy

you know, That's a good question. I've wondered that. Where are all the people coming from?

[00:03:52.720] - Big Rich Klein

Or is it the big cities are. Have all this empty space? I mean, I know that our population is growing, but it doesn't. It doesn't. It just doesn't make sense to me. I don't know.

[00:04:07.120] - Adam Leidy

Yeah, it's. Yeah, it's. I just don't know. It's like, where are the people coming from? And where are they getting all the money to buy these really expensive houses?

[00:04:16.140] - Big Rich Klein

Exactly. Exactly. So growing up in. In the Carmichael area and what. What kind of student were you? Were you a good student or were you, you know, always looking out the window, wanting to go get outdoors?

[00:04:35.100] - Adam Leidy

I would say I was probably an average student in most subjects. Awful in math. I remember my junior year of high school, there was a middle schooler in my geometry class, and it just made me realize that I am really bad at math.

[00:04:57.140] - Big Rich Klein

Or that middle schooler was very good.

[00:05:00.580] - Adam Leidy

Oh, he was very good. I'm like, wow, this guy's, you know, I don't even know the age. Yeah, it was just. Yeah, it blew my mind that I was a junior and this kid was, I think, a seventh grader. But, yeah, I, you know, I always love geography and history, just especially the West. That was always kind of in military history were probably like my. My biggest subjects that I really enjoyed.

[00:05:29.210] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. And as a family, when you're growing up, what kind of activities did you guys do? Weekends or vacations, that kind of thing.

[00:05:40.090] - Adam Leidy

So I grew up. My parents got divorced when I was pretty young. Spent a lot of time with my dad, so my dad was a fish and wildlife biologist, forester. So a lot of my summers and weekends were out helping him on projects, Sitting in the woods, staring at spotted owls, chasing garter snakes around, catching them. But dad always made sure that we were going out on family trips. Every spring break, we would go down to Death Valley. We'd hang out in the Owens Valley, where I live now. So we got out quite a bit. I guess that was Kind of before the term overlanding came around, we had this built, mildly built Isuzu Trooper that my dad would load me and my brother and sister up in and we'd go off on some adventure all over, wherever we were going.

[00:06:35.890] - Big Rich Klein

Cool. So I, I have to, I have to backtrack on something that you said. You said something about spotted owls. Did you actually ever see a spotted owl?

[00:06:50.130] - Adam Leidy

Yep, I've saw one or two. And basically since I was, you know, the young kid, I got to sit there and kind of just watch them and then write down when they took off and then when they came back if it was in a condesting site and stuff.

[00:07:04.750] - Big Rich Klein

Huh.

[00:07:05.390] - Adam Leidy

So, I mean, I wasn't like, I was seeing hundreds of them. I'm talking a few, right?

[00:07:13.710] - Big Rich Klein

So one time doing a, doing a permit down for BLM to do an event down in, outside of Phoenix in Florence Junction, we had, they, they went through, you know, all these different things that you, of course, we have to do to get a permit, land use permit, right? And they had a owl permit. And I'm like, okay, well, what's this owl permit about? And they said, well, you know, we're gonna, we're gonna make sure there's no owls there. And I said, so there's already been events here before. You know, why, why do we have to do another owl study? And. And they said, well, this is the way it works. We, we take, we get this owl group, you know, these, these professionals, and they go out and they call owls and see if any show up. And I'm like, so. So you've never seen one in the area, but you're going to go out there and call them in to try to get them to come into the area? Well, it is, it is a, you know, a habitat area that could support them. So you're calling them in even though they've never been seen?

[00:08:30.750] - Big Rich Klein

And they said, well, yeah, because we want to see them if they are there. And I'm like, all right, I'd like to have one of my people with them. And they said, oh, no, no, you can't do that. I said, so I just have to take it for granted that these

[00:08:48.140] - Adam Leidy

owl

[00:08:48.540] - Big Rich Klein

experts that you have coming in are going to be honest and say they saw. How do I know that it's that they did really see an owl if they say they saw one? Everybody that I know, yeah, everybody that I know that's ever been out Florence Junction, Wheeling, has never seen an owl. And they, you know, I ended up paying 500 for the owl study. But, you know, that's. Luckily they didn't. They were really bad at calling in owls, I guess, because they didn't get any.

[00:09:18.650] - Adam Leidy

So maybe the owls were on vacation, gone somewhere else.

[00:09:22.610] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, that or they were like, oh, there's those stupid owl people trying to call us in there. We're gonna hide. So. Yeah, I've never seen a spotted owl. And I. I worked up in the woods and stuff. I just might not have been in the right area, but. Yeah. Okay, so then you. You come from that background then? If your dad was a biologist.

[00:09:46.860] - Adam Leidy

Yeah. So, you know, like I said, I spent a lot of time helping do surveys and exploring. So, yeah, I spent a lot of time outdoors as a kid.

[00:09:57.580] - Big Rich Klein

Cool. I did as well, but I didn't. I did it through scouting. Didn't. You know, We. We did a lot of camping trips and backpacking trips and things like that. So then what was your favorite area to go into as a kid in that. And, you know, in Northern California, outside of Sacramento,

[00:10:20.940] - Adam Leidy

in the Northern California area, I always liked. I spent a lot of time in the Truckee area. My grandparents growing up had a cabin up that way again before the urban sprawl hit Truckee. We spent a lot of time fishing and camping up that way. So it's probably a lot. A lot of good memories. And Truckee or Quincy area, so don't really have, you know, I would say Southern California. Death Valley is probably was my most favorite place as a kid to go.

[00:10:53.020] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:10:53.900] - Adam Leidy

So.

[00:10:55.510] - Big Rich Klein

And so you're. You're. You're a mediocre student, bad in. In math. Did you play sports or any other activities? You know, band or. Or.

[00:11:11.190] - Adam Leidy

No, I. I tried out cross country and found out I was not a runner. So now I'm bad at math and not a runner.

[00:11:18.950] - Big Rich Klein

Bad at math and not a runner.

[00:11:22.670] - Adam Leidy

I did. I did try out for basketball, just didn't really. Yeah, I like playing basketball with my friends, but wasn't really for me. So. Yeah. No sports, no band, no clubs.

[00:11:37.230] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. Did you. Did you work at all while you were a kid? You know, through those teen years?

[00:11:45.710] - Adam Leidy

I did. So my junior and senior year, I worked at the shop. Automotive shop, car called Carnation. I was a kind of like a Jiffy Lube place. I was one of the lube techs.

[00:11:57.870] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:11:58.270] - Adam Leidy

Who did oil changes, you know, changed out differential fluids and all that kind of stuff. And yeah, I really. It was a good. It was a good experience. I learned a lot from some of the older mechanics. It was fun.

[00:12:15.670] - Big Rich Klein

And. And what was the first car that you got to drive.

[00:12:21.340] - Adam Leidy

First car I got to drive probably like my dad's a Zuzu Trooper. When we were kids, he used to let us, we'd sit on his lap out in the middle of nowhere, Nevada or something and we, you know, it was a manual. So he would do the gas and the clutch, but we got to steer. So it was probably my first experience driving something was an Isuzu.

[00:12:42.700] - Big Rich Klein

And what was the first car that you owned?

[00:12:46.520] - Adam Leidy

My first vehicle was a 1973 K5 Blazer with a full removable top.

[00:12:53.640] - Big Rich Klein

Nice.

[00:12:55.400] - Adam Leidy

Yeah, it was, it was pretty awesome except for it was a manual. And when I got my driver's license, I did not know how to drive a manual. So one of my buddies would drag me around in my own car. So I learned how to drive. Drive it? Yeah,

[00:13:13.250] - Big Rich Klein

I learned how to drive in a manual.

[00:13:16.050] - Adam Leidy

Okay.

[00:13:16.530] - Big Rich Klein

But I'm a lot older, so that's.

[00:13:20.290] - Adam Leidy

Nowadays. Nowadays a lot of people don't know how to drive a manual. It's almost like a anti theft device for some people.

[00:13:28.050] - Big Rich Klein

Exactly. I do have, I do have a grandson that has a manual Volkswagen. The newer style Bugs. So I'm really proud of him for, for being able to drive a stick.

[00:13:40.570] - Adam Leidy

That's awesome.

[00:13:41.370] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. So then you're, you get, you get through high school working, you know, you work senior, junior year as a lube tech. What comes after high school?

[00:13:55.930] - Adam Leidy

So after high school I started working in actually porta potties and septics. There's a lot of money. There was. And the goal was kind of started, you know, start at the bottom and then work your way up to getting a commercial driver's license and do trash. And I had some friends that, you know, in the early 2000s were making, you know, a hundred thousand plus a year driving a trash truck for waste management. That was kind of my goal. And then I was down one day in September of 2001. I was down in the Bay Area working and September 11th happened. And this is, you know, back in the day we only had radio. We didn't have streaming or satellite and all that stuff. We had CDs. But I got, I listened to the radio and the events of September 11th happened. And the next day I was in the Marine Corps recruiting office enlisting in the Marine Corps.

[00:15:05.200] - Big Rich Klein

Wow. 9 11. And jumped into the Marine Corps.

[00:15:09.440] - Adam Leidy

Yep.

[00:15:12.160] - Big Rich Klein

And how did that, how many years did you spend in the Corps?

[00:15:17.680] - Adam Leidy

I spent three and a half years in the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps. And my non running feet didn't really get along too well, so, yeah, the Marine Corps was just an amazing experience. And, you know, it kind of adds up. You know, I can't run that great. Not good at math, you know. So let's join the Marine Corps.

[00:15:41.920] - Big Rich Klein

Become a jarhead.

[00:15:43.840] - Adam Leidy

Yes.

[00:15:45.200] - Big Rich Klein

And where did you. Where. Where did you get deployed?

[00:15:50.560] - Adam Leidy

I did not get deployed due to. Because of some of my health issues and unfortunately. But yeah, went through boot camp in San Diego and then spent the majority of my time out in North Carolina at Camp Lejeune.

[00:16:03.500] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. Did you drink the water? No.

[00:16:09.700] - Adam Leidy

Funny story. My grandfather was a career Marine, and he served 23 years, and he retired in the late 60s. And when that all came about, he was still alive. And he asked me if I had drinking the water, and so he was concerned about me. And I said, well, you were stationed there in the 40s and 50s. I'm more worried about you. So

[00:16:34.550] - Big Rich Klein

I had to ask.

[00:16:36.230] - Adam Leidy

Oh, yeah, I know. I. You know, those commercials were all over the TV out that way back, you know, for a while there.

[00:16:44.470] - Big Rich Klein

So you mentioned health issues. Can you expand on that? Besides the slow feet?

[00:16:51.280] - Adam Leidy

Yeah. So basically it's mostly my feet. So I have a weird, like, foot structure.

[00:16:56.320] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:16:57.600] - Adam Leidy

Really high arched foot. And basically my feet are not designed to run. I can swim really well. So basically, running, marching, rucking, any of that type of stuff was really hard on my feet. But again, swimming, Swimming. I, you know, flying colors, no issue.

[00:17:21.900] - Big Rich Klein

So you should swim in the Navy.

[00:17:23.900] - Adam Leidy

I probably should have joined the Navy. Maybe I should have become a SEAL or something, you know?

[00:17:27.740] - Big Rich Klein

Right. They got to run too, though. Geez.

[00:17:31.820] - Adam Leidy

Yeah, that's true. Yeah. So just. I. That my body type. I just not built for running. I'm more built for picking up heavy things.

[00:17:39.740] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. That's always. Well, what did you do in Camp Lejeune? Did you pick up heavy things?

[00:17:48.220] - Adam Leidy

No, I was a. I went through school. I was a motor team mechanic. So I. I worked on. We still had 5 ton trucks at the time, and then the 7 tons had just come out from Oshkosh. So basically at the time, because they were still under warranty, all we really did was like, tires and oil changes and change windshield wipers on those things. We still had. We had. We know we had Humvees and stuff, so we did some work on those actually. The Marine Corps actually has enduro motorcycles, so I got to learn how to work on those a little bit and learn how to ride them. That was. That's. There's some entertaining stories there of learning how to ride a dirt bike

[00:18:30.120] - Big Rich Klein

with high Arched feet.

[00:18:32.250] - Adam Leidy

Yes, yes. High arched feet.

[00:18:34.730] - Big Rich Klein

Did it, did it help you stay on the pedals then?

[00:18:39.370] - Adam Leidy

I actually had, I actually had an issue between like the, you know, the peg and the clutch and the brake and everything is that my foot was like so wide with my combat boots that sometimes there was a little bit of a coordination issue, you know, hitting the wrong thing or doing. Yeah, so.

[00:18:58.670] - Big Rich Klein

So you get through the Marine Corps unscathed, then. What was your, what made you not stay in the Marine Corps and do another tour?

[00:19:13.070] - Adam Leidy

Well, basically I, because due to my health issues, they just changed my eas so I was able to get out, you know, honorable conditions. Just got out at three and a half years. If I could have, I would have stayed in, you know, 20, 30 years, the Marine Corps. Amazing. And it's just a big giant band of misfits and I felt like I fit right in there.

[00:19:37.170] - Big Rich Klein

And when, when you did get out of the Marine Corps, what was the next step then?

[00:19:43.330] - Adam Leidy

So I, I, you know, I had the GI bill, I decided to go back to school. I was married at the time, so I was going to community college and I started working for a mutual friend who had a landscaping business. And he decided he wanted to sell his business. So I ended up buying the business from him and ended up getting a associate's degree in horticulture and then eventually a business management degree. Ran a landscaping business for eight years. That was a lot of fun. Lots of good stories that could come out of that. And living in rural coastal North Carolina after. During that time, I basically built the business where it was self sufficient, where I had foreman doing a lot of the day to day. I started working on Cherry Point as a civilian for the Department of Defense.

[00:20:40.890] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, and what kind of work were you doing there? Is that something you talked about?

[00:20:52.260] - Adam Leidy

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. No, I, I worked at a facility where they overhauled aircraft. It could be helicopters, jets. So I provided, did a lot of logistics and parts support. Basically when I first started it was, you know, mechanics would take something, you know, a hydraulic, whatever, actuator off of F18. They would break it down, they would do the, you know, oh, hey, we need all these parts. They would order it. And then basically as the parts would come in through the supply chain, we would check them off and be like, oh, hey, this actuator is ready to be put back together. It's got all the parts. That's, that's kind of how I started in the, in the aircraft world. So.

[00:21:32.700] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, and, and then you said started in the aircraft World. You continued in that?

[00:21:39.590] - Adam Leidy

I continued to that. I. Eventually I went through a divorce, which was fun. I wanted to go back. I wanted to get back to California. Back. Back to the mountains, back to the dirt roads. So I transferred out to San Diego to North island out there and continued working on F18s and, oh, CH53 helicopters and Osprey for. For a little bit.

[00:22:12.340] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, and then. So you sold your landscape company, then? It sold.

[00:22:20.420] - Adam Leidy

Yep, sold that off.

[00:22:23.220] - Big Rich Klein

Got. Got the divorce, and then moved back to California. And then how long. How long did you stay down in Southern California?

[00:22:31.140] - Adam Leidy

I spent. Was it two years in San Diego and then I moved up where I'm currently at.

[00:22:37.630] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, and how did you get in with the Forest Service? Is there. Is there. Is there something in between?

[00:22:47.550] - Adam Leidy

No, I. I said how I've always wanted to live in Bishop, California. You know, spent a lot of time here as a kid. A lot of family history in the area. I said, how can I get a job with the fort? I've always wanted to work for the Forest Service. I was like, I got a degree in management. I was in the Marine Corps, and I worked on aircraft. It's not working out really. So I would look at USA jobs and stuff would pop up all the time. And I'm like, I don't. I don't have a resources background or. I felt like at the time I was too old to go into firefighting. And an executive assistant position popped up. It was the executive assistant to the forest supervisor. And I was reading through the job description, and I'm like, well, this is just an admin job. I qualify for that. So I threw in my, you know, threw my hat in the ring and got the job and moved up to Bishop in. Oh, geez, what was that? 2019, I think.

[00:23:54.430] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. And 2019, you're an admin, and you're no longer an admin. Aren't you a leo?

[00:24:07.950] - Adam Leidy

No, no. So my official title is I am the off Highway Vehicle and over snow Vehicle Program Manager in the Forest Service. We have what's called an FPOs, a Forest Protection Officer. So I can actually write citations. No. No drugs, no alcohol, no speeding, that kind of. But illegal campfires, trash driving off trail. I can write you a citation for that.

[00:24:39.150] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. Okay. So then from like the, like when we met at the Rebelle, you were overseeing the permit in that area. Is that what was happening?

[00:24:53.480] - Adam Leidy

Yeah. So the Rebelle has to put in for, like, you know, like, we were talking about permits earlier. Has to put in for a special use permit. And most of the permit administrators, they're not OHV people or, you know, jeepers or off roaders, so they usually like to send somebody out and just, you know, making sure that people, you know, the permittees are doing what they're supposed to, and there's no issue. And I think that year, the rally had spent three or four days on the Inyo and surrounding BLM lands. So I just went out, you know, and, you know, checked in with Emily, make sure everything was going all right. And then I think I sat on a couple corners here and there just to make, you know, people. The Forest service was very worried that people were going to be speeding, that it's a rally. And I kept telling them, it's not a race. They have to. It can only go so fast. They're tracked, they get in trouble, you know, so they wanted me to go out there to make sure they weren't bombing down the road at 90 for some reason.

[00:25:55.780] - Big Rich Klein

Right? No, none of that ever happens.

[00:26:02.100] - Adam Leidy

No, Never.

[00:26:04.430] - Big Rich Klein

Not on the Rebel. Nope.

[00:26:06.030] - Adam Leidy

No, no.

[00:26:06.830] - Big Rich Klein

I can. I can guarantee it. Like, I cross my heart, hand on the Bible, all that. So how did you get into off roading? Was it the. Was it the K5 Blazer?

[00:26:25.230] - Adam Leidy

So that was kind of like my. My entry into off roading. I had friends that, you know, we all had old Toyotas or Chevy's growing up, and that was kind of my entry. And then, like I mentioned before, my dad had the Zizi Trooper. So doing, like, these dirt road overlanding trips before it was called over landing, right. Kind of got me started. And then what really got me into off roading is my dad bought a 1978 FJ40 when I was out in the Marine Corps, living in North Carolina. And he had these grandiose plans of, you know, putting a small block in it, you know, doing all the things. And he was going to go run the Rubicon. That was his, like, his dream. Well, the Land Cruiser sat in his Driveway for about 5, 6 years in various states and pieces. And I said, dad, I own a landscaping business. I have a car trailer. I'm driving out to California, and I'm taking this thing away from you, which I did, traveled back to North Carolina, and there's a really awesome Land Cruiser club called Old North State Cruisers. And a bunch of the guys in that club, over the next few years, we put that thing back together, sourced all the parts that were missing, and for several years there, I had this amazing FJ40 that I would go wheeling up at Uwari and We do all kinds of events up that way.

[00:27:58.620] - Adam Leidy

And that was, that was kind of like my start and back into it as an adult.

[00:28:03.740] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:28:05.420] - Adam Leidy

And then when I went through my divorce, I knew I'd have to sell the Land Cruiser because otherwise I'd probably be living in it. So I, I sold it. I sold it to somebody in the club. And I always had these, like, I would always see these photos when I was living back east of the Alabama hills and I would see these, but, you know, these Eastern Sierra photos with Land Cruisers. And I was like, that is my goal. I'm going to move back west and I'm going to get a cool. Another cool Land Cruiser someday. And I ended up buying 100 Series Land Cruiser before I moved back or back down to San Diego from there. You know, I was in San Diego. I did all kinds of desert trips and back to Death Valley, all over Anza Borrego. And that's, that's really where I got into the mix with the tread lightly crowd and the, you know, the not littering, not destroying things. Let's, you know, try to keep things, you know, clean up after ourselves. So then, you know, I moved up to Bishop and I had bought that 100 series Land Cruiser.

[00:29:21.550] - Adam Leidy

I think it had 220,000 miles on it. And when I sold it last year, it had like 370,000 miles on it.

[00:29:30.630] - Big Rich Klein

Wow, that's great.

[00:29:32.710] - Adam Leidy

I had replaced the engine. It's actually still in local. In Bishop. Actually, one of my buddies bought it. And then I. I finally made the big. The big purchase. I bought a 200 Series Land Cruiser, but I don't. Are you familiar with Paul May who owns Equipped Expedition Outfitters in Salt Lake City?

[00:29:55.670] - Big Rich Klein

No, I'm not.

[00:29:57.270] - Adam Leidy

Okay. So he's a big outfitter, sells rooftop tents and dolls, all this stuff. He's involved with X Overland. And anyways, he put up this beautifully built 200 series Land Cruiser. I mean, everything you could imagine, it's been done to it. And one of my friends said, hey, you should buy this. This will be the last Land Cruiser you ever owned. And I was like, thanks for enabling me. And I. So I told, I called Kurt Williams, you know, Land Cruiser guy, and I was like, hey, what do you think about this truck? And he's like, you don't buy it. I'm gonna buy it. So I made arrangements. And yeah, that was a little over a year ago, and I've already put 30,000 miles on this thing in just over a year.

[00:30:50.480] - Big Rich Klein

Nice.

[00:30:52.880] - Adam Leidy

So, yeah, I'm a. I'm a Toyota guy. Yeah.

[00:30:58.080] - Big Rich Klein

We all have our crosses to bear, right?

[00:31:01.280] - Adam Leidy

I know you're, you're a Jeep guy. You like the rock.

[00:31:04.880] - Big Rich Klein

I'm, I'm even, I'm even worse than that. I'm a, I'm a XJ guy.

[00:31:10.560] - Adam Leidy

Oh.

[00:31:16.240] - Big Rich Klein

So, yeah, I get it.

[00:31:20.000] - Adam Leidy

Yeah. And then honestly, being in the Land Cruiser community and kind of a Overland crowd scene, I was going to Overland expos and doing things. This is when I had my 100 series and a buddy of mine invited me out to King of the Hammers and he was gonna, he had built this FJ cruiser that he was gonna race but that ended up falling through. But he's like, hey, still come out. And I was like, what is this King of the Hammers thing? So, you know, I started doing some research and looking into it and he's like, yeah, you know, I'm part of this race team called Rusty Dale Racing. And I was like, oh, all right, cool. You know, heard a little bit about him. You know, this, this magical mythical creature named Justin Reese who won, you know, 1 in 4,619 in this old Toyota pickup truck. So I, I, me and one of my other local buddies, we, we go to this thing not really knowing what we're getting ourselves into. And it turned out like half the people that are Rusty Nail, they're all Land Cruiser Toyota people. So I, I already had, knew most of them through the community, through I hate mud.

[00:32:32.300] - Adam Leidy

So now I've been dabbling I in the off road racing world. I'm not a racer, I'm not a co driver. I've realized that I'm, I'm six two, so I'm kind of too big for most race cars to be comfortable, but I have kind of found my niche in logistics and support and, you know, making sure things are happening that we're getting tires from the sponsor or that, you know, if a certain driver has to be somewhere that's kind of, that's kind of turned into my, my thing. And I, I absolutely love it. Hammers is a lot of fun and actually I'm getting ready to, we're getting ready to head out to area BFE here next week for the Moab race.

[00:33:18.030] - Big Rich Klein

Right? Yeah, we'll be, Shelly and I will be in Moab, but we'll, we probably won't get there until Wednesday.

[00:33:28.040] - Adam Leidy

Okay.

[00:33:28.600] - Big Rich Klein

Because we have a We Rock event on Saturday out at Arizona. Okay.

[00:33:35.080] - Adam Leidy

Is that part of Easter Jeep Safari or egs?

[00:33:38.440] - Big Rich Klein

It's part of the egs. Well, we're not relate. It's the event's not related that to that.

[00:33:45.410] - Adam Leidy

Okay.

[00:33:45.770] - Big Rich Klein

It's during that week. But we're there. We're out at area BFE after Ultra 4 is and we're doing our own thing. It's going to be kind of a two lane trailbreaker type race. So.

[00:34:01.090] - Adam Leidy

Be fun.

[00:34:01.730] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah.

[00:34:02.090] - Adam Leidy

Oh, cool.

[00:34:02.850] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, it'll be, it'll be, it'll be different for what we've done in the past. So it'll be, it'll be good to see.

[00:34:08.690] - Adam Leidy

Okay. Maybe I'll pass you on 70 or something. We can wave at each other.

[00:34:15.280] - Big Rich Klein

Quite possibly. If you see the black Raptor pulling an HQ15 wave.

[00:34:20.560] - Adam Leidy

Okay, we'll do.

[00:34:22.880] - Big Rich Klein

So then you're. What is it about King of the Hammers that you enjoy?

[00:34:35.040] - Adam Leidy

I mean, my favorite thing is just getting a group of people together, the Rusty Nail crew and you know, hanging out around the campfire and just seeing people with, you know, everybody's got a different background. You know, some people are mechanics, some people are good at logistics, some people are good at getting sponsorships or. I just love seeing everybody with these different backgrounds coming together for one, one purpose, you know, and that is to support the race car and the driver, you know, whoever's racing. And that's just, it's fun. It's. It's a, it's a, it's a big family. Dysfunctional, but it's a big family.

[00:35:16.200] - Big Rich Klein

Right. That's, that's the part that I like about off roading in general is I love the people that I'm involved with, you know, that, that are out there, or at least most of them.

[00:35:29.880] - Adam Leidy

Most of them, you know. Now obviously there's the other side of it. I've been involved since the going to Hammers with a lot of the cleanups with Tread Lightly or Sons of Smokey and all those guys, you know, because there's a certain subset of the off road world that likes to go up to Turkey Claw or Back Door at night and have fun. Sometimes they're having fun leads into trashing everything and other extracurricular activities. But, you know, that's not why I'm there. And unfortunately a lot of people see the bad side of it and that's all they think Hammers is. So I've been trying to be like, hey, no, I'm not up there. You know, I'm up there the next day picking up the beer cans and cigarette butts. But we're here to race. Like, we're here to support the drivers. We're in the pits, you know, like we're not, I mean we have beers and hang around the campfire, but we're not up there causing, you know, shenanigans.

[00:36:28.730] - Big Rich Klein

Right. So you, you haven't worked it as part of, of the like BLM Forest Service, the multi agency crews that are out there.

[00:36:41.290] - Adam Leidy

I funny story, the state of California had asked me, they're like, oh hey, are you going down to King of the Hammers? And I said, yeah, I'm going down there. They're like, hey, we really need some help at our booth and just you know, handing out flyers or talking about, you know, whatever. And I said, well let me see if my management will allow me to go down there in an official capacity for a few days and help you guys out. So we, we did that and I got a lot of confused looks of why there was a Forest Service employee in a state booth. But overall a lot of people just wanted to ask questions or you know, just, just talk to somebody. You know. Unfortunately I, you know, a lot of people were asking questions about the Southern California forest and I don't know a lot about them but you know, I was able to like get them in touch, you know, get them a phone number or an email to somebody to reach out. And this is, I'm just going to go off on a little tangent here.

[00:37:47.790] - Big Rich Klein

Absolutely.

[00:37:48.350] - Adam Leidy

You know, as, as a, you know, agency employee and I probably should like preface this, this is just my opinion. This is not an agency, this is not an agency opinion or policy. I feel like the Bureau of Land Management Forest Service, we're missing that interaction with the public at a lot of these events like King of the Hammers or Overland Expo or Sand Sport Motorsport show or I think, you know, the Reno area has a big outdoor expedition sportsman's event. I just feel that we're missing that interaction with the four wheel drive community. You know, in education there's, you know, I actually listened to your interview with Matthew Giltner the other day. You know, there's, there's a lot of new users out there that, you know, they didn't grow up with the old timers and the cheap club or you know, they don't have a mentor to teach them like hey, you know what? You don't go take your side by side and go do donuts in the meadow. So yeah, that's, I'll get off my soapbox there. I just, yeah, I wish, I wish I had more staffing and more funding to go like talk to people.

[00:39:09.860] - Big Rich Klein

Education goes a long way to, to having, to lessening law enforcement or enforcement. And it's, it's a shame that we don't spend more on education. But then again, I think that a lot of that comes from the clubs and the organizations, you know, out here on the west coast. Cal Four Wheel Drive, Nevada four Wheel Drive association, you know, the tread lightly groups like that, that, that are trying to educate. It's just getting to everybody. You know, unfortunately, you know, the, especially the affordability, you know, where you can go out and buy a UTV and something that rips around really well for, you know, a few hundred dollars a month. And it's, you know, it's a gateway, you know, when you had to buy a $30,000 Jeep or put $30,000 into a Jeep to do the same thing. But you, you couldn't, you know, you couldn't do that with a, with a payment plan. You know, there's very few people that are gonna, you know, sell you, give you a loan on a, you know, 30 or 40 year old jeep.

[00:40:33.700] - Adam Leidy

Right.

[00:40:34.340] - Big Rich Klein

But that side by side community, there's no, I mean, it's the people that have never spent time outdoors.

[00:40:40.900] - Adam Leidy

Yep. And it, you know, obviously it really hit during COVID You know, everybody wanted to get outdoors and they're. I. So part of my job on the forester on for the forest service, I had three OHV campgrounds. And during, you know, right after Covid, when we were all allowed to go back outside, there was these, these people would pull up and these, you know, 3500 dodges with, you know, a hundred thousand dollar, our toy hauler with all these things. And they're like, hey, where do I go? And I'm like, well, you know, here's a campground. You can go over there. And they're like, well, we don't know how to do this. And it wasn't just like one person. There was numerous people that just didn't, you know, they just knew, they just saw this, saw it on TV and thought it was cool and wanted to give it a shot. And it just, you know, the lack of education and you know, the, the land managers over the years, you know, I would probably say starting in the 70s, maybe the 80s, is staffing and budgets is just, you know, dwindled off. And so now we're just running around putting fires out everywhere instead of, you know, actually being the friendly person or ranger or educator.

[00:42:01.390] - Adam Leidy

And me personally, you know, I can write tickets, I usually write a few tickets every year. But I would rather educate somebody who's just out trying to have a good time with Their family then, you know, give them a ticket. Now, obviously, like illegal campfires during fire restrictions, you're getting a 350 ticket. But, you know, if you're not wearing a helmet and you're out with your kids, you know, on your side by side, you know, it's like, hey, man, you got a helmet? Oh, yeah, it's right here. Well, let's, let's put it on. You know, your kids got them on, but you know, you need to wear them, you know. And then most people, most people are usually compliant. You know, they're like, okay, I'm sure as soon as I drive away, they probably take it off again. But at least I'm trying to, you know, educate. And then I don't want to leave a bad taste in those kids mouths and be like, oh, well, that forest service guy, wow, he was mean to dad and mom, you know.

[00:42:56.830] - Big Rich Klein

Right.

[00:42:57.150] - Adam Leidy

So then, you know, it just sets up the next generation to think that we're all just a bunch of mean people.

[00:43:05.660] - Big Rich Klein

Right? So we. I don't know if I should tell this story. Oh, what the heck. On the rebel. On the rebel, we were. This was in a different jurisdiction. We're actually in Nevada, I think, at this point. And we were. All the roads seem to blend together, but we were at BLM land. And then there's this little corner or this like it's no more than 100 yards of a wildlife preserve. That's what it is.

[00:43:46.310] - Adam Leidy

Okay. Wildlife reserve, right?

[00:43:48.110] - Big Rich Klein

There's a cyclone fence, the road and then open, you know, this road that we're on that we're permitted to be on. And then it's all brush. The hundred yards is the length of that, that cyclone fence where we cross onto the preserve. And then 100 yards later is a parking area. And then the highway, the road continues on the other side and goes down by the river and you can continue on through the preserve. We had a checkpoint there in that parking area. And this officer from the preserve comes up and says, what are you doing? And I said, I am a checkpoint for the rebel rally. And he goes, okay, well, that's obvious. Where's your permit? And I said, it's right here. Because all the checkpoint workers have copies of the permits, right? And so he's, he's. I mean, he's really sharp with his attitude. And you know, he's, he's. And I'm being really nice. I mean, because I'm, I mean, I got all my paperwork. I got a binder here. Well, I guess there was a. That he had written the permit and had. Or he had. He had known about the permit or whatever, but had never.

[00:45:20.060] - Big Rich Klein

I don't know what. What the whole deal was that came about that. But it was at a point where Emily that day was out doing videoing for the Forest Service on, you know, with her film crew. And I don't know what all the stuff was, but it was some kind of training video or something like that. For that, she made a deal with. With them to. To provide this. And this guy's, you know, going, well, you can't. You can't have your checkpoint here. And I'm like, okay, I've got all these women. The team's going to come in and check. Check in and then do their calculations and continue on. That's why we're in this parking lot. And he goes, well, you need to pull your flag. And I said, okay. So I get out of the truck, I pull the flag, and I set it in the back of my truck. And he goes, okay, that's fine. And then he drives away. What? And he goes, well, it's signed. There's. There's a sign that you're on the preserve. And I said, there's no sign. I came down that road. There was a sign on the cyclone fence about a hundred feet.

[00:46:33.530] - Big Rich Klein

Feet to the. Off the. Off the road. And then signs up on the fence, but nothing along the road to show that we were in the preserve. So here's the cyclone fence with signs on it. That tells me, well, everything that's beyond that fence is where the. Where the, you know, the preserve. Yeah, it all got.

[00:47:02.030] - Adam Leidy

You were in a parking lot.

[00:47:03.950] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, on a. On a normal access road where people would drive that road every day. But it goes along the. The preserve fence. And I guess the road actually, you know, the. The right of way is on the edge of the preserve. And so the guy was just being a little. A little Napoleon, you might say.

[00:47:27.320] - Adam Leidy

Yeah. Yeah, that's a little. A little interesting.

[00:47:30.440] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah. And you've met me. I'm not. I'm. I can be very confrontational, but not unless I have to be. And I was trying to appease this guy. And so when he told me, well, you got to pull your flag, and I said, okay. So I just pulled it out, sat. Stuffed it into my rack so that the sign was there. I mean, I moved it like 10ft from where I had it in the ground into my truck where I had it parked. And it was still sitting up in the. In the air so the girls could see it. And then he was fine with it. And I just couldn't figure it out what his, what his beef was. He had, he had some kind of beef going. I don't know if he, if he, you know, if his wife yelled at him in the morning or something.

[00:48:14.260] - Adam Leidy

Maybe he was just having a bad

[00:48:15.620] - Big Rich Klein

day or constipated something, needed an extra

[00:48:19.370] - Adam Leidy

cup of coffee, right?

[00:48:21.810] - Big Rich Klein

Guess I should have offered him one of those.

[00:48:24.370] - Adam Leidy

Yeah, yeah, you should have given him a coffee.

[00:48:29.410] - Big Rich Klein

So what, what is it? What's a day like for you out in the, in the Inyo National Forest?

[00:48:40.610] - Adam Leidy

Well, contrary to popular belief, I don't drive around on a side by side all day long and get paid. That's what a lot of people think I do all day.

[00:48:49.380] - Big Rich Klein

Wow, that's. I thought you did. No, I'm kidding.

[00:48:53.220] - Adam Leidy

Well, that's what they see on social media. So then they're like, oh, you're just now driving around all day. So I'm the program manager. So a lot of my day to day is I'm working. We get grants through the state of California, OHV division and occasionally we'll put in for a Nevada one Nevada grant as well. There's a little portion of the Inyo that is in Nevada. So a lot of admin stuff, a lot of reconciling bills and that labor and that type of stuff. And then also planning projects, working with archeologists or resource staff to come up with, you know, plans, you know, projects that, you know, we invite the public out if it's something we can do a volunteer project on. So a lot, it's a lot of planning. So I would say I spend a good amount of time in, in the office, but I do get to spend a lot of time outside like this time of year. You know, we're just trying to see, you know, how much snow's left where we can get in and start working on some roads. That's what I'm going to be doing tomorrow. I'm going to go out and see if we can get some access so we can get some work done and see, see if there's any damage from the snow.

[00:50:17.090] - Adam Leidy

So yeah, I, you know, I dabble in a lot of things. A lot of forest service staff also go out on fires in various jobs. I'm not a firefighter. I go out and do logistics or security or security manager. So usually a couple of weeks out of the summer I'm up, you know, last year I was in Oregon, northern California a couple of times for wildfires. So try to, try to help out Where I can.

[00:50:47.730] - Big Rich Klein

Okay. Kind of changes, changes your routine up too.

[00:50:52.530] - Adam Leidy

It does. It also, you know, we're on fires, we're working 16 hour days, so the overtime is nice. You know, a 200 series Land Cruiser does not get the greatest gas mileage.

[00:51:03.710] - Big Rich Klein

Oh, I drive a Raptor. I understand completely.

[00:51:06.430] - Adam Leidy

Yes, yes. You probably get better than what I get though.

[00:51:12.270] - Big Rich Klein

Maybe. So what do you average per mile. Miles per gallon in your, in your

[00:51:20.910] - Adam Leidy

Land Cruiser and the Land Cruiser and it's a, it's a 5.5.7 liter Toyota V8. I get about 10 to 12 more. Closer to 10.

[00:51:31.370] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, I get that.

[00:51:34.970] - Adam Leidy

Yeah, I'm heavy. I do have a long range auxiliary tank, so I do have the capability of holding 50 gallons of fuel.

[00:51:44.010] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[00:51:44.530] - Adam Leidy

Which gets me 450 to 500 miles depending on what I'm doing. And if the wind's pushing me in a good direction.

[00:51:53.100] - Big Rich Klein

Right. I, my truck runs right now without all of the gear in it that I do with the Rebelle. No rooftop tent, no rack, just an empty bed. 7100 pounds of the half a tank of fuel, and that's 18 gallons with me sitting.

[00:52:09.460] - Adam Leidy

Okay.

[00:52:09.980] - Big Rich Klein

7100 on the nose. I know that because I just went to the dumps.

[00:52:14.780] - Adam Leidy

Did you? I, you know, I need to go do that. I need to go way weigh the truck and myself with, you know, and just, just a basic, just the basic weight to see, see what I'm at.

[00:52:26.570] - Big Rich Klein

It's intriguing. I mean, I had no clue exactly how heavy it was going to be. And you know, for, for a real sporty truck, it's pretty heavy. You know, they are, but they're stout and they, they, they hold up well. So what are, what's your dream? What is, what is it that when you finally grow up, what is it that you want to do?

[00:52:54.420] - Adam Leidy

What is it that I want to do?

[00:52:56.420] - Big Rich Klein

Do you want to travel? Do you want.

[00:52:58.620] - Adam Leidy

Oh, I'd love, I.

[00:52:59.860] - Big Rich Klein

Do you want to go get a boat and cruise? You know, what is, what is it you want to do?

[00:53:07.460] - Adam Leidy

I, I would love to have a 10 or 20 acre piece of property probably somewhere in central Nevada, maybe Reno, Elko, Winnemucca, somewhere out there. And I just, you know, I, I like, I love all forms of off roading. You know, there's a place for everybody. But I'm really into the overlanding where, you know, I, I'm the one that's constantly driving and looking, going, oh, hey, where's that dirt road go? So I think that's what I would probably do is I Would, you know, have a, like a base camp and just go explore, you know, I do want to travel overseas. I would love to go to Australia, but there's so much to see in the west, you know, and I've been probably more places than a lot of people get out, especially in this general area. So, yeah, I, I think I would have a base camp and then just, you know, have a couple different vehicles maybe for different situations and just go explore the country and then, you know, maybe head over to Australia. And I've always wanted to do like an outback Australian Land Cruiser adventure, you know, go see the kangaroos and the koalas.

[00:54:31.780] - Big Rich Klein

Shelly and I did that.

[00:54:34.020] - Adam Leidy

Oh, really?

[00:54:34.740] - Big Rich Klein

We did, we did 18 days, I think it was eight, 16 or 18 days in Australia. We flew into Sydney, rented a 110 Land Rover with a rooftop tent and the kitchen in it and everything. All we had to do, all we had to do was bring our clothes and then go to the grocery store. Everything else was completely outfitted. And we spent a couple of days in Sydney or that area because there was an off road show and we rock. Australia was putting on an event.

[00:55:11.610] - Adam Leidy

Oh, right on. That's sweet.

[00:55:13.530] - Big Rich Klein

So I went over there and I did the announcing during the event, which thrilled, seemed to thrill the Australians because here's this, you know, American, obviously, you know, with the weird, this funny speaking guy. Yeah. And I, you know, there was, there was a point where the, the car, one of the cars was all just twisted up. And I said, oh, yeah, he's really Caddy wampus. And the crowd just kind of. There was like a rumble went through the crowd and Shelly said they were all like, oh, that's what caddy wampus means, you know, things like that. And so I just started throwing out terms, you know, rock crawling terms and stuff like that. That and you know, the, every time that I'd get on the microphone, the crowd would, you know, immediately increase, you know, double or triple in size because everybody would come over to see what was going on. It was.

[00:56:09.990] - Adam Leidy

Oh, that's exciting.

[00:56:11.030] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, it was pretty cool. And then we got to go into the interior. We did not get out into the true out outback. We got into the, there's the, you got the coastal area, then you have the mountains, and then you have the valleys, and then you get into, you know, the deserty area. And like, for the first five days, all I ever saw was dead kangaroos. And I was really, I was convinced the Department of Transportation in Australia just threw them out there, you know, so tourists could see kangaroos. And then we stopped at one of their national parks where we were going to camp. And after we stayed on this ranch out there in Wellington, then we went out to this national park. And I'm unloading and getting the tent set up, you know, unloading, you know, our gear and getting it into the tent. And I turn around and there's three big c. Gray kangaroos. These big grays.

[00:57:18.610] - Adam Leidy

Wow.

[00:57:19.290] - Big Rich Klein

And the, you know, you see the movies and stuff, and they. They're sitting there and they look like bodybuilders all ripped. And they were totally mean mugging me. Like, you know, they came to. To take my stuff, you know, and. And I just stood there and was like, you know, all right, now what am I going to do? I'm going to have, you know, one, maybe three. I mean, they were my size, you know, at least close in height there. And I was worried about it. And then this old guy in a campground, a couple campgrounds down, I hear him yelling, and he starts walking over and he chases them off and he goes, yeah, you just. You just got to get aggro with them. And I said, okay. So, you know, I knew that, but they look like they were going to get aggro with me, like pull a switchblade, you know, or something like that. Yeah, take.

[00:58:04.770] - Adam Leidy

Take your bears something, you know, Exactly. They just wanted to come have dinner with you.

[00:58:12.760] - Big Rich Klein

Yeah, but they. They look like they wanted to take dinner, So. Yeah, Australia is pretty cool. Next time we go back, I told Shelly we have to do like six months.

[00:58:28.680] - Adam Leidy

Oh, wow. That be. Yeah, I. That would be. That would be awesome.

[00:58:35.760] - Big Rich Klein

I figured what I'd do is I'd buy a ute, you know, one of their small Toyota pickup truck type setups, and then get it with a rooftop tent, have it outfitted and stuff, and then sell it after I'm done with it. That's. I figured that's the way to do it.

[00:58:54.880] - Adam Leidy

That's a good idea. Yeah.

[00:58:58.170] - Big Rich Klein

So any. Any cool events going on in Inyo this. This year? Oh, if it's. If she is put in for permit to go to come down through. Don't talk about the rebel. We can't give anybody any ideas, but.

[00:59:14.890] - Adam Leidy

Yeah. Anything else? Yeah, no, I don't. Normally the Ventura County Motorcycle Club comes through for like a long weekend. I haven't heard if they're coming back up or not. Unfortunately, we've lost a lot of our permitting staff, so we are very, very shorthanded for permitting, but. Oh, the mammoth. Mammoth motocross. Is coming up in June. So there's this ridiculously awesome motocross racetrack right outside of Mammoth that gets used once a year. And so there's a big race that, you know is there, and people from all over the place come and race it. That's towards the end of June,

[01:00:07.830] - Big Rich Klein

I would imagine. There's a lot of dispersed camping for the guy people, the spectators that come out.

[01:00:13.590] - Adam Leidy

Yeah, a lot of spectators will disperse camp. They'll end up in my OHV campgrounds or, you know, Mammoth's got all kinds of hotels and stuff, but, yeah, a lot of people will disperse camp. It's a big event. I don't think there's anything else going on that I know of. I have not heard from Emily, so I don't know what that means. Or maybe she's. Yeah, I'm usually her precursor to doing anything because she asked me about road conditions usually.

[01:00:44.450] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, so if any rebels are listening to this, we're probably not going into that area. Yep, probably not, because I know that there's some rebels that listen to this. So that's why I said I can't talk about anything that Emily might have planned.

[01:00:57.270] - Adam Leidy

Yeah, well, we can't give Nina Barlow any secrets or, you know,

[01:01:04.030] - Big Rich Klein

between her and Terryn. They are hard to beat.

[01:01:08.110] - Adam Leidy

Yes. Yes, they are. Yes, they are. And, yeah, I actually had this whole talk about the Rebelle rally because I was dating somebody that is a Rebelle. So I was told, do not say a word about anything, if you know anything. And we went to an event in Montana where Emily was doing a mapping class. And she said hello to my girlfriend. And then she said, oh, hey, I'm Emily. But I took my sunglasses off, and she was so confused at why the two of us were together. And then she's like, wait, wait, wait. And then Alex was like, hey, don't worry. I've already told him. He knows not to tell me anything about anything going on. If it's on his forest, he has been warned. So

[01:02:07.500] - Big Rich Klein

that's awesome.

[01:02:08.140] - Adam Leidy

Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I. You know, it's kind of funny. I was, you know, involved a couple years ago when I met her. When I met you guys out on the trail. And now I'm like, oh, I'm dating somebody who does the Rebelle. This is very interesting.

[01:02:24.300] - Big Rich Klein

Small world. Very small world.

[01:02:26.420] - Adam Leidy

She's. She's way better at off roading than I am.

[01:02:31.250] - Big Rich Klein

That's okay. That's okay, though.

[01:02:32.930] - Adam Leidy

I. I mean. And I'll tell you a secret. She has a Jeep.

[01:02:37.010] - Big Rich Klein

That's it. Oh, you just. You just made more enemies inside the toy. The Toyota guys are going to come back and say, what did you say?

[01:02:47.890] - Adam Leidy

I know. And it. Yeah, it came up in Hammers. They're like, kid leave dating a Jeep girl. I'm like, she's got a forerunner, too.

[01:02:59.000] - Big Rich Klein

Perfect. Well, Adam, I want to say thank you so much for coming on and. And being a guest on the podcast.

[01:03:07.960] - Adam Leidy

Yeah.

[01:03:08.520] - Big Rich Klein

You know, I've only seen you a couple times, but I. I follow you on social and, you know. Oh, the one question I wanted to ask, did they ever catch that idiot that drove out into the sand dunes in. In Death Valley?

[01:03:24.770] - Adam Leidy

Not that I know of. I haven't heard back from the park. But on a side note, I. I personally reached out to the park, and I'm trying to get a. A volunteer project going so we can do some delineation and some better signage out there.

[01:03:41.410] - Big Rich Klein

Okay.

[01:03:42.210] - Adam Leidy

And unfortunately, the park is going through a staffing issue as well right now. So I was hoping to have something done in April, but with the temperatures that are going, you know, right now it's like almost 90 in Bishop, so it's 110 out there. But stay tuned. I'll let you know if we end up doing something out there. But unfortunately, that truck is not the only one that has driven out onto those dunes.

[01:04:10.870] - Big Rich Klein

Unfortunately, that's. I can't. I can't believe people. I. Yeah, I don't. And it's got to be an education thing. It's the only thing I can think of. They're just too stupid to understand it.

[01:04:25.500] - Adam Leidy

Yeah. And then, you know, well, some of the. Some of the older locals around here were like, well, we used to be able to drive on it during the 70s and 80s when it was BLM. And I said, well, I get that, but, you know, Congress made the decision to incorporate it into the park. Right. It wasn't just some, like, random BLM person's, like, you know what? Those sand dunes, we don't need to drive on those anymore. And, you know, there's. There's big dune right down the road. I mean, there's. There's all there. There's all kinds of ohp. Sand dunes around the area.

[01:04:57.440] - Big Rich Klein

Right. If people want to go into the sand dunes, go to those areas that it's allowed.

[01:05:01.680] - Adam Leidy

Yep, yep. So. But, yeah, if I hear anything, I will let you know.

[01:05:07.960] - Big Rich Klein

Absolutely. Thank you. All right. Thank you so much for coming on and being a guest, and you have a wonderful year, and maybe. Maybe we'll see you this year.

[01:05:20.280] - Adam Leidy

Yeah, maybe we'll see you. And thank you so much for having me on. And as I see you on i70 in the Raptor getting better gas mileage than me, I will wave.

[01:05:31.080] - Big Rich Klein

Perfect. All right, you take care and have fun.

[01:05:34.480] - Adam Leidy

All right, we'll talk to you later.

[01:05:35.520] - Big Rich Klein

Okay, thank you. Bye. Bye.

[01:05:36.720] - Adam Leidy

Bye.

[01:05:37.680] - Big Rich Klein

Well, that's another episode of Conversations with Big Rich. I'd like to thank you all for listening. If you could do us a favor and leave us a review on any podcast service that you happen to be listening on. Or send us an email or a text message or a Facebook message and let me know any ideas that you have or if there's anybody that you have that you think would be a great guest. Please forward the contact information to me so that we can try to get them on. And always remember, live life to the fullest. Enjoying life is a must. Follow your dreams and live life with all the gusto you can. Thank you.