This post is Day 14 solo backpacking the SHT with MCAS continues my journey on the Superior Hiking Trail with a chronic condition called Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS).
Table of Contents
Who is Betsy Leighton?
I’m a writer, blogger, and healer dedicated to helping individuals reconnect with their innate peace and wholeness by healing nervous system dysregulation. My personal experience with chronic illness called Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) shapes my work, and my content offers tools to empower those with chronic illness to improve their well-being and take charge of their health.
I created the Sacred Self-Healing Method and am a trained and certified Safe and Sound Protocol provider, an author, blogger, and A Course in Miracles Teacher. I hold a Master of Divinity in Spiritual Counseling and am a trained spiritual mentor, with certificates in sound healing, aromatherapy, nutrition, and Sacred Deathcare. I offer a self-study certificate program in the Sacred Self-Healing Method, provide spiritual counseling and coaching, courses, and supported subscriptions for the Safe and Sound Protocol.
What is MCAS?
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) is a chronic condition that affects all organ systems. It can cause severe, disabling symptoms every day, including potentially fatal anaphylaxis.
The common triggers for MCAS are infections, toxic exposures including mold exposure and EMFs, trauma, concussions, and stress.
MCAS often occurs with other chronic conditions like Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). Managing MCAS is challenging because many healthcare providers are unaware of it, and diagnostic tests can be unreliable. Treatments include antihistamines and mast cell stabilizers in the form of medications and supplements, along with avoiding triggers. Check out this post on managing MCAS.
Ups and Downs
I packed up my gear, and after last night’s rain, I was glad that everything had stayed dry except my tent. I hoped to find a place along my walk today to lay the tent out over some branches to dry because it was sopping wet. But with overcast skies and some challenges on my way, I never got the chance.
From Blueberry Hill, I continued southwestward. I planned to stop after about five miles at one of the four Gooseberry River campsites to decide whether to camp there or keep going.
The first several miles featured dozens of wooden boardwalks slick with last night’s rain. I brought a new pair of Swiftland TT trekking poles from REI for this trip. I had been reluctant to purchase trekking poles because of the expense and because I liked having my hands free. But within the first mile of using them, I was sold on trekking poles. They helped me stay balanced on the slippery boardwalks, and I was happy to have the poles to stabilize me on all types of terrain. On flat and inclined sections, the poles helped propel me forward more efficiently, while on downhill sections, I could use them to take some of the load off my knees.
Within a short while, I realized that the bugs were back in force, perhaps having just hatched from the recent rain, so I put on my full bug suit again. And the rain also meant the trails were a muddy mess again.
When I reached the Gooseberry River, the signage said that I had come 4.7 miles from Blueberry Hill and that the Castle Danger trailhead, where my car was parked, was 8.7 miles away. This information made me confused. I was certain I had only come about 3 miles so far, and that Castle Danger was no more than 7 miles ahead.
A few minutes later, I met a thru-hiker named Meg who was going northbound. She confirmed the signs were confusing because the signage had not been updated to reflect the new Gooseberry trail re-route shown on our maps.
It was fun talking to Meg. Oftentimes when I meet other hikers after hardly speaking to anyone a day or two my brain is too blissed out on nature to converse. She asked me a lot of questions about the sections I’ve hiked so far, and I was able to shift back into human conversation mode. When I asked her how she liked the SHT so far, she said it was “much harder than expected.” I agreed because the sections I’ve done have definitely had lots of ups and downs.
We said goodbye, and I continued along the Gooseberry River, where I anticipated the trail would soon have a washed-out section from the heavy June rains. I had carefully read the trail reports online before this hike because I’d been caught off-guard recently by a trail closure. So I thought I was prepared for what was in store.
Meg had indicated there wasn’t any water available in this section, so I stopped to refill my reservoir in the river. But as I stepped closer to the bank, I realized too late that this was the start of the washed-out section. I lost my footing and slid down the soft bank while madly reaching for anything to grab onto. Because the shore was mushy from the recent erosion, there was nothing to grab onto, and my feet sank into quicksand-like mud. I turned to hurl myself back up the bank and ended up doing a face-plant into the mud. My glasses and my water reservoir were dirty, and I was covered in sticky mud.
I managed to scramble to safety and kept going along the river, hoping to find a better place to get water. But the Gooseberry adventure wasn’t over yet. Trail reports also indicated a section where the trail had washed away that I would need to bushwhack. Sure enough, the trail ended abruptly at the river, so I followed a rough path into the woods. Unfortunately, I was following in the footsteps of other hikers who had gone the wrong way. Then I bonked my head on a low-hanging branch. When I realized I’d gone full circle, I checked my GPS and carefully retraced my steps back to where I’d gone wrong.
By this point, my tent was still sopping, my water reservoir was muddy, and the tape had come off the hole I’d patched a few weeks ago. I was achy from the fall, and my head hurt from the whack from the branch. All I wanted was to get off the trail.
Eventually, I found a clear access point where I could rinse off some of my filth and fill up. Then, when I reached the last Gooseberry campsite, I took a longer break, cleaned my glasses, took some Arnica for the aches, and regrouped.
I decided to power through the next six miles to where my car was parked, taking breaks every mile to have a snack. Halfway, I reached Mike’s Rock, a touching memorial with painted rocks and a phone for “Stardust Calls.” There, I took another extended break to change into dry socks and a cooler shirt, ate another big snack, filtered the last of my water, and then continued.
The last mile before the trailhead featured a steep climb to an overlook, followed by a steep, rocky descent. By this time, I had gone over ten miles, and my legs were jelly. I carefully picked my way along the rocks and gratefully reached my car.
Though this trip had some hard parts, I learned that I can go much farther than I initially thought. Compared to my first hike at 1 mile, the 10.7 miles today proved that my stamina has come a long way!! Because of the water scarcity, I carried 3-4 liters in my pack, making it heavier than ever, but it was still doable. I wished I had asked Meg what the trail she had just done was like, so I could have anticipated the issues I encountered with the wash-out and bushwhacking. Next time I will try to get more information about the trail conditions from people I meet along the way.
Despite the challenges I experienced this time, I am eager to be back on the SHT!
The bucket theory
The bucket theory simplifies understanding symptom reactions with MCAS. Imagine your body as an empty bucket you don’t want to overflow. Reactions to various stimuli fill the histamine bucket at different rates, forming the total histamine level (how full your bucket is). More histamine means more symptoms. By managing triggers, reducing exposures, and taking medications and supplements, you can control your bucket’s level.
Know your typical symptom progression
Understanding your symptom progression during a flare is key to developing your rescue plan. This post discusses how to recognize symptom progression so you can be prepared to address them.
Get my free ebook, symptom log, and meal plan!
Want a tool to easily track your symptoms?
Check out these circadian health tools!
I’m an affiliate with Bon Charge, a company that makes tools for circadian health, and you can receive 15% off your order with my coupon code BETSYL.
Bon Charge offers tools such as yellow– and red-tone blue-blocking glasses, red light therapy devices, PEMF mats, infrared saunas, and EMF-blocking products.
Sign up for the SSP!
I’ve found the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) to be the most helpful bottom-up healing strategy if your nervous system has been overloaded with toxic exposures, including mold or non-native EMFs, chronic infections, concussions, stress, or trauma. The SSP is a passive listening therapy that helps heal nervous system dysregulation. Many people with MCAS and other chronic conditions have nervous system dysregulation stemming from infections, toxic exposures, concussions, and trauma. The SSP is an easy-to-use app that lets you listen to specially filtered music for 30 minutes each day as part of a 5-hour cycle. Studies show the SSP has a profound effect on mental health and chronic conditions. Here’s a short podcast describing the Safe and Sound Protocol.
You can sign up for the SSP here!
Heal your mind!
While the SSP is a bottom-up, somatic therapy for healing the nervous system, the Sacred Self-Healing Method I offer is a top-down nervous system-healing modality that focuses on cognition, attention, perception, and emotion, using the mind’s higher functions. The SSP and the Sacred Self-Healing Method complement each other and together produce lasting results. Here’s a short podcast on my self-healing practice.
I provide one-on-one in-person and remote chronic illness and caregiver coaching, as well as Sacred Self-Healing Sessions based on the Sacred Self-Healing Method, a proven, novel co-creative healing modality detailed in my Books.
Order my books!
Here’s a short podcast highlighting my five books.
My latest book, Living In The Light: Healing with Forgiveness, Sound, and Light, is all about the tools that have been most helpful for me to heal: forgiveness, sound, through nervous system retraining using the Safe and Sound Protocol, and light, through entraining my circadian rhythm with the energy of the sun. Living In The Light is available here!
Rocks and Roots chronicles my solo backpacking journey on the Superior Hiking Trail and my efforts to overcome nervous system dysregulation, gut dysbiosis, and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome symptoms to complete the 328-mile hike successfully.
The Sacred Self-Healing Method ebook is available here and in most ebook retailers!
The Sacred Self-Healing Workbook is available for purchase here!
Betsy’s first book, Sacred Self-Healing: Finding Peace Through Forgiveness, is available here
Companion Recordings
The companion audio recordings of chants, guided meditations, and sound healing demonstrations that accompany the Sacred Self-Healing Method are available for free on my YouTube channel here
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Disclaimer
The preceding material does not constitute medical advice. This information is for information purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, cure, or treatment.
