Michael Hyden adventurer, podcaster, YouTuber. Join me as I explore Alaska from the backcountry to fun events and activities. I will share with you my tips and tricks for easy fun outdoor recreation here in and AllOver Alaska. I started AllOver Overland in 2016 to learn more about overlanding and well now I’m sharing my knowledge and experience I have learned over the last several years.
Everyday I daydream about changing my rig. Not just getting a new one and starting over but changing the configuration of my current Nissan Frontier. I’m normal, right?
It starts with just a small change as I stir my coffee. You know you proudly wipe away some mud that flew threw the window last weekend when you almost got stuck, you didn’t but almost. As you wipe that mud trophy away you look into the back seat of your 4 door truck. As you look at your already half deleted rear seat, you can’t believe you got away with(wife). You start to wonder as you slowly look up and to the left and boom. All you see is a full rear seat delete and all the new gear that you could keep back there. You don’t naturally snap out of that until your coffee is fully consumed, unless some psychopath decides to try and talk to you during your rear seat delete dream build.
After that near murder and as I reach my seat. I see my computer screen saver and of course it is an amazing imaga of my rig in the most epic background of any trip I have ever been on, so…. I enter into the scene and I start to think about how bumpy it was and how a set of adjustable Kings would have made that trip so much better. If I am going to add a new suspension then I might as well get new rims and tires. Then “bing” new work email.
Later when my tank is empty and lunch is soooo close, I look outside. There she is, my rig. I admire the build, smiling. Then again, I look up and to the left. I start wondering, what would it look like with a canopy camper? I walk around the rig, yep that would be cool. A Radica Moonlander would be a solid option. I love the hard sides but I do want to stand up. Topo Toppers can flat ship and I can assemble, I do like that Donald with Soft Roading the West has one and loves it. On the inside I would pizza… “Michael we are getting pizza, you in?” They got lucky with pizza because I was in a good place just then.
These rebuild continue all day long, its a wonder I get any work done.
Yo! So winter has arrived. We got blasted with a big snow storm right out of the blocks. Normally we get light snow first, it melts, then a few more inches so on… But we got nailed with over 6 inches right off the bat. I think we got around 8 inches at our house. The plows and cities were not ready in the Peninsula, it was a mess on the roads. That is a completely different story, this post is my first winter tip of the season.
The worst thing to happen is your door getting frozen shut. Yep. Frozen solid. I have also had my roof top tent frozen shut. Not a good time. This is just what happens in winter, so here is a tip to keep your doors, tents, and zippers from freezing shut.
Zipper Lube or Vaseline for the win.
Last year Craig told me about zipper lube, it comes in a tube like a glue stick. You just apply some on the rubber seals and or zippers so they won’t freeze. The zipper lube helps he zipper teeth glide more smoothly which also helps the zipper from getting stuck. Last year I used Stone Glacier’s Zipper Lube purchased off Amazon. It worked great all winter. This year I am trying vaseline instead. A local told me that he has used vaseline to keep rubber and zippers working good in winters.
So I stuck my fingers in the jelly sticky yet slippery vaseline. I got a generous layer on my fingers and started applying it directly to the rubber seals of my truck doors, yes your vehicle door seals. I also applied plenty to the awing zipper, tent zippers, tent rubber seals. Any place I thought might help.
We will see how vaseline works this winter and I will give a full report.
I was a guide for the BFGoodrich KO3 launch in Alaska, let me say that one more time, I was a guide for the BFGoodrich KO3 launch in Alaska. WHAT!!!????
Last spring Craig Pester with Total Truck and Alaska Overlander asked me if I would be able to help guide the BFG KO3 tire launch here in Alaska? Say what? I said yes before I knew anything like where, when, how….. and like do I need to plan or help plan this? To be truthfully I didn’t ask any of those questions because I was too freaked out to ask. Craig probable thought I was super chill or an arrogant asshole because I was like “sure”. Inside I was jumping around, yelling, dancing, screaming. Yeah I was excited.
I owned KO2’s years ago and loved them. So I was super excited to get a set of the new KO3’s. I never had any issues with the KO2’s and only replaced them because of the Arkansas mud.
I had to pick up a rotopaX at Total Truck several weeks later. I still hadn’t heard anything about the event. Craig sees me and starts telling me about the event (OK THIS IS HAPPENING!). He is super busy running around while he’s telling me, and I’m trying to follow but not catching everything and not saying I’m not catching all of it sooooo…. I left not knowing much more than, that I WAS GOING!!!!!! I did kinda know when, at least the month, September.
Craig calls me a couple of days later, “what size tires mate?”.
“33” I say.
“17 inch right?” Craig says.
“Yep” I say.
“I need rims for those, Methods”, Me
“Roger”, Craig says and hangs up.
I still didn’t have dates or any idea what I was going to do as a guide, like the route, how many, who, where…. LOL. Brook called me a couple weeks later and filled me in with all the info, thanks Brook.
I called AllDogs Offroad Coop. I ended up with Fox shocks on AllDogs Springs and AllDogs Upper Controls Arms, Enoch thanks! They shipped the suspension and I had the guys at Total Truck install the lift, which happened just a couple of days before the event. I stayed up in Anchorage area for a few days, camping and hanging at Steve’s house, thanks man. I helped drive trucks to the sticker shop, the detail shop and back to Total Truck. It was impressive the complete machine the crew at Total Truck and Alaska Overlander are, top notch! I watched and video’ed Josh install the lift. I’m sure I annoyed him but he did an amazing job. Stickers are in place, lift and tires are installed. Let’s GO!
Taylor, Josh, and I left Thursday evening toward Talkeetna to camp the night and arrive at the Talkeetna lodge by 9AM. During the drive we were in a heavy and I mean heavy downpour the entire way. The KO2’s were not known for wet weather driving, so I was cautious. As we drove and my confidence grew I got faster and faster and theses new KO3’s head perfectly. This was my first experience with these tires and I am already a fan. They performed so much better than my old KO2’s and my recent MT’s. The drive was over an hour and a half, no issues at all.
A drink or two or three or more at the Fairview Inn lead to a fun night as Craig joined us for drinks. Camp was in puddles but we were drunk so we didn’t care. A foggy morning next the the river gave a spooky fun vibe. Josh 2 and Matt joined us and followed us up th the lodge. The Talkeetna Lodge was amazing! They had a Jeep and Bronco outside on the only KO3 37’s in the world, made just for this event.
We met up with more of our crew and a few BFG guys to pre-run the trail. We drove out of Talkeetna, gassed up and drove to Forks Roadhouse. At Forks you can go left to the mud or right to the “sand” pit. The Roadhouse was going to be a meeting point and the only bathrooms we would have available the entire day. The mud run was’t too long just enough to see what these tires and do, remember they are not mud tires. We found that out as the lead truck got into several inches deep of wet sticky mud. We would have loved to keep going and hoped to bring people further back, but again these are not mud tires so we opted to stay in our lane. A shortened mud run was decided, to be honest I wouldn’t have driven the rest of the way in these conditions in my old MT’s, it was thick. It was impressive that we all made it back with only one person(Craig) getting stuck.
To the right, and to the rest of the trail, was the “sand” pit. I “” sand because Alaska sand, well its different. This was more like a grave pit with fine fine gravel, lol. The next couple of days the drivers will his get the chance to really check out the grip of these All-Terrain tires. Each vehicle would have two drivers and each would get a turn. Watching everyone you could easily tell they were having a blast. Once every had a chance we all gathered around Steve’s Lexus and one of the BFG guys told us about all the awesome things that go into the evolution of the new KO3. Also showed us how the side walls create grip over rocks.
From there it was all a trail ride. We drove by Petersville, an old mining town that people still work their claims and live. Winding roads thats just reach the edge Denali National Park. The drive was easy with a few water crossings and unbelievable views. When we have the BFG guests with us we will have a stop on the way up to eat and pan for gold. Moose burgers and Halibut tacos catered for lunch, made fresh in the middle of nowhere Alaska. The guests also got a chance to actually pan for gold and a couple of people walked away with a nugget!
Several long deep water crossings met us on the way to the look out Craig had planned. I have never driven through this much water, which is saying a lot since I wheeled a ton in NW Arkansas. This was insane and a total blast.
After all the water we had a long steep climb in loose rock, with tundra on each side of us and it was in full fall colors. The red and yellow colors on the side of these mountains was something I had never seen before as the tundra that blanket the area was completely in fall color change, so amazing.
The next couple of days I would be guide BFG race car drivers, influencers and content creators. I met so many amazing people, there were all big time and super nice, all of them. The last night we all ate diner together, BFG knows how to throw and event and a party. It turns out this was the last event for the then current CEO, it was special just being there.
I am so thankful for being asked to help with this event. The entire BFG crew were so helpful and nice. Craig and Brook thank you. Your leaders-ship and your crew at Total Truck and Alaska Overlander are amazing and a great reflection of you and your companies. I made several friends and had an amazing experince. Thank you again to everyone.
Hello, my name is Michael Hyden. I have been “overlanding” in one way or another for my entire life. Camping, hiking, biking, photography have all lead me to outdoors and camping. My love for vehicles, as most boys, started early. I remember being blown away be big trucks on lifts with big tires. It got my juices flowing as a young boy. My mom started buying me car and truck magazines just to get me to read more, I was obsessed.
Years later I figured how to join my love of big trucks and camping, didn’t know it had a name, overlanding. I stumbled on the term while watching YouTube and like most of us I was again blown away by what XOverland put out about their Alaska trip. The adventure called me.
I started AllOver Overland in 2016 as a way to show my daughter, Molly, that dad did some pretty badass things. I also started it so that I could learn more about this overlanding thing. I was far from a expert or even novice at this point but I was a sponge ready to learn.
Well, that was many years ago. In that time I have lead amazing trips and the AllOver Overland is a top 5 podcast. The AllOver Overland show on Overland Radio was the first live interview show ever, and we were the top show for all of my three years with them. I MC’d events and have given honest gear reviews. I have been involved in overlanding for a long time now. So I’ve decided to start a blog about overlanding and all the adventures that go with it.
Please check out AllOver Overland on most social medias-YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and my podcast AllOver Overland can be found on most podcast platforms, but Spotify is home base for the podcast.
June of 2023 we moved to Alaska, seems like the old XO videos that got me on to the overlanding thing ready hit me, lol. After a year and half of getting settled in my job and buying a home, I am ready for to explore Alaska. Join me as I grow, learn, and share what I discover with you.
Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.
Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.
Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.
Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.
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