Roman Dial

Roman Dial has been packrafting for three decades, from first descents of steep creeks to multi-week traverses of wilderness areas in North and South America, Asia and Australia. Dial is a professor of Environmental Science and Mathematics at Alaska Pacific University, where he teaches packrafting courses.

Misery Loves Company – Part 3

Our best day started really bad. It started with rain all night and the night before, us soaked from three hours in a temperate rain forest – both its old growth form and its scabby, hellish clear-cut 10-year old regrowth form – followed by a chilly crossing of a misty glacial stream called the White … Misery Loves Company – Part 3

Misery Loves Company – Part 2

Continued from Part 1… Lost Coast North’s Obstacles The Lost Coast falls logistically into three parts: Cordova to Icy Bay (Lost Coast North), Icy Bay to Yakutat Bay (the Malaspina Lost Coast), and Yakutat to Gustavus (Lost Coast South). The early hikers often split the coast in three, too, using the landing strips on either … Misery Loves Company – Part 2

Misery Loves Company – Part 1

Roman Dial is no stranger to Alaska’s Lost coast. Perhaps that is why, instead of chronologically ordering the days of suffering, this story is full of history, geography, and earth science. Not enough time has passed since Roman and this all-star crew, who he quickly introduces in this story, departed to forget just how the … Misery Loves Company – Part 1