I started solo backpacking the North Country Trail in 2024, and have covered about 650 miles of the 4800-mile trail so far. I’m currently working my way across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This post covers part three of solo backpacking the NCT MI-UP.
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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.
Why solo backpacking?
In 2024, I solo backpacked most of the Superior Hiking Trail and wrote a book about the experience. I have a chronic illness called Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), which causes symptoms of severe inflammation, pain, and allergic-type reactions. I’ve managed my condition with dietary changes, antihistamines, and mast cell stabilizers. In solo backpacking, I’ve found a hobby that keeps me fit, challenges me, and actually helps me manage my symptoms. Over the past two years, I’ve gradually increased my exercise tolerance, starting from not being able to exercise at all. In June of 2024, I began solo backpacking the Superior Hiking Trail, and at that time, I could only walk one mile. As my stamina and strength grew, I increased my pack weight and mileage until I reached my furtherst daily distance of up to 38 miles.
I’ve done a lot of work to heal MCAS by treating infections and toxic mold exposure, improving my gut health, and retraining my nervous system. Along with those things, I found being in nature in sync with my circadian rhythm to be a huge piece of my healing path.
In 2025, I solo backpacked across northern Wisconsin in four sections on the NCT with the help of some trail angels who shuttled me from one trailhead to another. If you’re interested in reading about my past sections of the NCT, check out my blog: https://betsyleighton.com/solo-backpacking/
In 2026, I’m aiming to solo backpack the 550-mile section of the NCT in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Why the North Country Trail?
The North Country Trail spans 4800 miles from North Dakota to Vermont, and traverses my home state of Minnesota. I was attracted to exploring the Superior Hiking Trail, which is a segment of the NCT in Minnesota, first because it holds fond memories from my childhood. But once I finished the SHT, I was hooked on solo backpacking and wanted to continue to explore the North Country Trail, where it picks up after the SHT at the Western border of Wisconsin. From there, I’ve set my sights on completing the entire NCT over the next few years, and I hope to solo backpack at least 500 miles per season.
Gear
My backpack weight is usually about 20 pounds on a typical 3-day solo backpacking trip. My base weight is a little under 13 pounds–which includes my shelter (tent), sleep system (quilt, sleeping pad, inflatable pillow, etc.), and basic safety gear for first aid and gear repair. Food and water are the heaviest items in my pack, and they add another 7-10 pounds to my pack. You should really only carry 15% of your body weight on your back, so that limits what I can carry. I’ve tried a lot of different gear setups, and have found that with my petite 5’2″ frame and weight, it works best for me to use ultralight backpacking gear. You can check out my gear list here.
Sewing
With MCAS, I react to many fabrics, scents, foods, and textures. I’ve sewn a lot of my own backpacking clothing because it allows me to use the fabrics I tolerate and create fits that suit my style and comfort. You can check out my sewing projects here.
Tolerating exercise
This post covers the unique challenges to exercising when you have a chronic illness and offers tips and tricks I’ve found to make it work when you have physical limitations.
Part three: solo backpacking the NCT MI-UP
Day 10 on NCT MI-UP – Pollen
Since my last section solo backpacking the Upper Michigan portion of the 4800-mile North Country Trail, I’ve been at home treating my latest Lyme disease case and building my hiking stamina back up. At first, I had a lot of fatigue and neuropathy, but that has improved over the past few weeks. So far, I’ve covered about 650 miles of the NCT.
David joined me for this section, and we set up base camp at an inn in Marquette. We arrived on Friday afternoon and had dinner at the Delft Bistro. I was excited to see that they had gluten-free fried cheese curds on the menu!
We took a walk near the giant ore dock after dinner and saw large swaths of yellow pollen floating on top of the water. David was experiencing some allergies and we hoped that a good night’s sleep would help.
Friday night, we slept well, though in the morning, David’s allergies were pretty bad. So we made a plan for me to hike alone today while he spent more time indoors due to a high pollen count.
David dropped me off at the trailhead at the Dead River at 9 AM, and the trail along the river was gorgeous with sparkling water and clear skies. The trail was fairly easy to follow, though I did get lost once when it intersected with another trail system.
I crossed a railroad track littered with millions of iron ore tailings, which are roughly 1 cm ball bearings made of iron from the mining process. The piles of iron balls are leftovers from the iron operations and are the remnants that fell off train cars on their way to the ore dock. They are extremely difficult to walk on!
After that, the trail plunged into fairly dense woods with lots of mosquitoes. I immediately had to put on my bug pants, head net, and rain/wind jacket to keep them off me. I even needed to use my rain mitts because they kept biting my hands as well. I experimented with some essential oil-based bug repellent on my legs, but it didn’t make a difference. But I did realize with delight that the graphene sun hoodie I sewed seemed to deter the mosquitoes.
After 5 miles, I reached the Forestville Campground Trail system, which has lots of intersecting mountain bike trails and tons of tent campers. I didn’t see any people when I stopped to use the campground toilet. The area was well-marked but still tricky with so many crisscrossing trails, and I did take a couple of wrong turns and needed to backtrack.
After that, there was a road crossing, and the trail again plunged into the forest with lots of bugs. It followed a babbling brook for a few minutes, which was refreshing and lovely. Then the trail continued upward as I heard train whistles in the distance. I texted David that I was on track to finish at Presque Isle Park around 2 PM as we had planned. Today I covered about 10 miles in total.
After passing the spur trail to Hogback Mountain overlook, I stopped to snack and mix up more electrolytes. A family of four day hikers passed me, and we’re curious how far I was going. Then shortly after I resumed hiking, I saw another couple of day hikers. So it was nice to know I had other people breaking trail for me now. Until this point, I had been the one breaking through the cobwebs woven across the trail overnight. Now the other hikers were doing that for me.
Bugs became less of an issue in the afternoon when the trail reached Lake Superior, which was a lovely change. It meandered westward along the shore for several miles to Presque Isle Park, where I was meeting David. There were tons of day hikers and pleasure seekers on this section, swimming in the lake, picnicking, and sightseeing.
After meeting up with David, we headed back to the inn, and I found an accessible place to cool off in the lake. It was rocky and pollen-y, so I just waded to cool off. I only found one wood tick on me, so that was encouraging. I’d experienced what many are calling a bad year for ticks on my last few sections in the UP of Michigan.
We had a local whitefish feast for dinner at Iron Bay, including whitefish tots, whitefish tacos (me), whitefish chowder (David), and whitefish and chips (David). It felt great to be back on the trail, my body felt strong, and it was fun to explore this part of the NCT.
Day 11 on the NCT MI-UP – Swimming!
It was cooler this morning, and even rained a little bit as David drove me to the trailhead. The overcast skies made it a more pleasant temperature for hiking, and as I started, the bugs were not too bad.
David dropped me off where the NCT crosses over the Little Garlic River on Hwy 550. The trail follows the river through riparian forest for a couple of miles before heading east past Echo Lake Nature Preserve. The next five miles were a steady ascent and then descent in dense woods. The mosquitoes were fierce, but I was prepared with my bug pants and head net. I’m so delighted that my graphene sun hoodie deters the bugs because it’s a lot cooler than my rain/windshell.
At 5.5 miles, I crossed Hwy 550 again, and the trail headed to the shore of Lake Superior. I’d brought my bathing suit and a towel in hopes of cooling off in the lake at some point, and this seemed like the perfect time. There was no one around, so I changed into my suit and took a refreshing dip in the water. It felt amazing! I’ve wanted to combine backpacking along Lake Superior with swimming since I started this journey in 2024, and I finally had the chance!!
After eating a “lunch“ of steamed sweet potatoes, a turkey stick, and some ChocZero chocolate almonds, I continued eastward along the shore towards Little Presque Isle park, where I met up with David. We lounged on the sandy beach for a while before heading back to the inn. I covered 9 miles today. For dinner, we split a gluten-free pizza. Zero ticks were found! It was a perfect day!
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.
