SierraSoul was a labor of love, a website that we built during the early, halcyon years of our relationship. It was an outlet for our writing and photography about backpacking and travel. It was a blog before anybody knew that term. The site was actively updated from 2003 to 2008 and went offline around 2016. It was painstakingly hand-coded and built in the old-school spirit of the web, to share our experience and a bit of hard won knowledge about backpacking, snow camping, and travel.
From the About page on the original site…
SierraSoul is the personal website of Matt & Jody Pritchard. This is a place for us to share our life outside with family, friends, and the world at large. We’re blessed to live where we do—with the Pacific Ocean in our front yard and the great Sierra Nevada out back. We love to explore places near and far, capturing our experiences with photography and stories. We’ve learned a few things along the way, so we also use this site to educate people about backcountry travel, photography, and more. Take some time to look around—the adventure log is a great place to start.
The Internet Archive has a some good snapshots of the site over the 13 years it was online. After 5 years offline, I decided to resurrect some elements of the site on our family blog, PritchardLife. After all, SierraSoul is a journal of our family’s adventures before Autumn and Carson joined us. Trip Reports (going back to our first backpacking trip together in 2001) can be found in the PritchardLife timeline and in the Adventure Log section below. Other articles are listed under the Tips & Technique section below.
Adventure Log
- Trip Report: Yosemite Day Hiking October 31, 2007
- Trip Report: Carson Pass, 2007 October 31, 2007
- Trip Report: Great Basin National Park September 30, 2007
- Trip Report: Point Reyes, 2007 August 31, 2007
- Trip Report: Humboldt Redwoods State Park May 31, 2007
- Trip Report: Dry Tortugas National Park March 31, 2007
- Trip Report: Wild Women Workshop, Yosemite December 31, 2006
- Trip Report: Carson Pass, 2006 October 31, 2006
- Trip Report: Mount Langley, 2006 October 31, 2006
- Trip Report: Mount Dana October 31, 2006
- Trip Report: Mono Basin, Twenty Lakes Basin September 30, 2006
- Trip Report: Feather Falls June 30, 2006
- Trip Report: Italy May 31, 2006
- Trip Report: Point Reyes, 2006 April 30, 2006
- Trip Report: Death Valley Road Trip December 31, 2005
- Trip Report: Rae Lakes September 30, 2005
- Trip Report: Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks September 30, 2005
- Trip Report: Wyoming Road Trip July 31, 2005
- Trip Report: The Lost Coast July 31, 2005
- Trip Report: Henry Coe State Park, 2005 May 31, 2005
- Kirkwood Winter 2005 April 30, 2005
- Trip Report: Mount Langley, 2004 October 31, 2004
- Trip Report: Round Lake, Carson Pass North September 30, 2004
- Trip Report: Lassen Volcanic National Park September 30, 2004
- Trip Report: Mount Shasta, 14,162′ July 31, 2004
- Trip Report: Prairie Creek Redwoods May 31, 2004
- Trip Report: Trekking in Patagonia, Part 1 November 30, 2003
- Trip Report: Trekking in Patagonia, Part 2 November 30, 2003
- Trip Report: Trekking in Patagonia, Part 3 November 30, 2003
- Trip Report: Trekking in Patagonia, Part 4 November 30, 2003
- Trip Report: White Mountain, 14,246′ October 31, 2003
- Trip Report: Kennedy Meadows October 31, 2003
- Ride Report: Tahoe Sierra Century 2003 September 30, 2003
- Trip Report: Trinity Alps, Caribou Lakes August 31, 2003
- Trip Report: Sabrina Basin, Blue Lake July 31, 2003
- Trip Report: Snow Mountain Wilderness May 31, 2003
- Trip Report: Henry Coe State Park, 2003 May 31, 2003
- Trip Report: Channel Islands Proposal – Jody’s Version May 31, 2003
- Trip Report: Channel Islands Proposal – Matt’s Version May 31, 2003
- Trip Report: Snow Camping at Carson Pass March 31, 2003
- Trip Report: The Lost Coast, 2001 July 31, 2001
- Trip Report: Point Reyes, 2001 April 30, 2001
Tips & Technique
- Snow Camping Fundamentals
- Megamid for Winter Camping
- Camera Gear
- First Aid Kit
- Oh Shit Kit
- Leave No Trace
- Trip Planning
- Recommended Reading