This post is Day 10 Backpacking the SHT continues my journey on the Superior Hiking Trail with a chronic condition called Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS).
Table of Contents
What is MCAS?
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) is a chronic condition that affects all organ systems. MCAS is serious and disabling and people with MCAS experience often significant and debilitating symptoms daily, including anaphylaxis, which can be fatal.
MCAS is often found in combination with other chronic conditions such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).
Frequently healthcare providers do not know about MCAS, and the tests for MCAS are problematic because they are not uniformly reliable. MCAS can be difficult to manage. Treatments include blocking mast cell mediators with anti-histamines and mast cell stabilizers, as well as avoiding triggers.
Check out this post on how to manage MCAS.
Day 10 on the SHT – Longest hike!
Sleeping so close to a pond last night meant waking up to quite a bit of condensation inside my tent. But with a few shakes, it dried quickly. I love my tent!
As I was eating breakfast I had my first sighting of ghost pipe — peculiar perennial plants that are generally 4-8 inches tall, with small scale-like leaves, and white five-parted flowers.
I continued on the trail and stopped at Sundling Creek to fill up on water. My guidebook suggested that there wouldn’t be water available for the duration of the section. Today I was attempting to do my longest section at 8 miles, and I had a contingency plan to stop and camp somewhere if I had to. But not having access to water would make that difficult.
Easy miles
The trail section ahead was purported to be relatively flat, so eight miles seemed doable. But the guidebook also said that this section was particularly “wet,” which sounded like mud and bugs. While I gravity-filtered my water the bugs were eating me alive so I opted to put on my raingear, the only true armor I have against mosquitos. My bug suit only helps so much when the mosquitos are this bad because they find all the vulnerable places to bite me and some even find a way inside. With raingear on I felt relief from constantly being bitten, but I knew from past experience it would soon turn into a sauna suit from my body heat.
I crossed a newly logged section of forest, and then a less-recently logged section. These areas felt desolate with most of the tree cover gone.
Today’s section was indeed quite flat and wet, but also pleasant. After my first road crossing, I was grateful to a volunteer trail steward who was out weed-whacking with a gas-powered trimmer. I thanked him for helping to maintain the trail, and then marveled at the distance he had already cleared — over a mile! This section of trail was so easy to hike with the weeds trimmed!! Thank you, SHT volunteers!!
The bog
I made good time and at four miles I stopped for lunch and to filter my remaining water. The next section joined the North Shore State Trail for a few miles, a wide boulevard on an old logging road through marsh and bogland. In this section, I met one male thru-hiker who was very excited to see another human being out on the trail, and one female solo trail runner. By the end of the boggy section, I was ready for a rest, so at the first sign of higher ground I plopped down, propped up my feet on my pack, and took a short dirt nap.
Go Pam!
The final part of this section took me through mature forests and rocky crags as it approached Pincushion Mountain. A group of people were out on the trail supporting their friend and loved one “Pam” while she finished the last section of her SHT journey which would end at Pincushion. It was fun to feel the excitement at the culmination of Pam’s effort!
The last half-mile before Pincushion Mountain trailhead retraced the very first part of the SHT that I hiked back in June. It was good to reflect on what I thought I was physically capable of then relative to now. Back then I wasn’t sure if I could do more than a few miles at a time, and I felt certain I couldn’t manage sleeping on the ground. I finished today’s eight-mile section tired but proud of the stamina I had built up over the last two months, and the skills I had honed at solo camping.
While I stripped off my sodden raingear at my car I heard cheers as Pam arrived at the trailhead. I congratulated her and then drove down the Gunflint Trail to Grand Marais for a much-needed shower at the campground.
Thanks for following along on my SHT journey! I’m heading home now for a couple of weeks, and will be back at it as soon as I can!
The bucket theory
The bucket theory offers a helpful analogy for understanding symptom reactions with MCAS.
Think of your body as an empty bucket you want to keep from overflowing. Different foods and activities fill your histamine bucket at different speeds but they combine to form the total level of histamine in your body (how full your bucket is). A fuller bucket means you have more histamine symptoms. When you manage triggers, reduce exposure to known triggers, and take medications and supplements to reduce histamine, you can manage the level of your bucket.
Know your typical symptom progression
Knowing your symptom progression in a symptom flare is the key to developing your rescue plan. In this post, I discuss how to determine your symptom progression. Once you know what typically happens in your symptom progression you can design a rescue plan to address those symptoms.
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Check out this powerful frequency device
Healy is an individualized specific microcurrent device (ISM) that runs beneficial electrical currents directed by an app on your phone. Healy can be used to magnify your intention and to get the most out of your life. Check out this post for more about Healy. And this post provides some tips and tricks for Healy.
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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. Always seek advice from your medical doctor.
