By cumulative miles in perspiration,
Or total change in elevation?
By number of nights under moon and stars,
Or a tally of disruptive hoots and calls?
By the sum of sounds strange in the night,
Or quantity of bears in plain sight?
By flowers and fungi photographed,
Or personal jokes to which I laughed?
By scores of gnats drowned with sweat and tears,
Or records of webs dangling from my ears?
By mountains upon mountains that I’ve seen,
Or sunrise and sunsets that fortify and clean?
By reckoning the days I wish I could stay,
Or simply … by not wishing this solitude away?
Quantifying backpacking
Primitive Joe 