Catch up with the Munro Challengers

The most aggressively athletic task you will commit to, today, may well involve flicking through the pages of this Herald Magazine. (Incidentally, be easy on those fingertips whilst you flick. You don’t want one of those nasty paper-cuts ruining your daydreams. )

But not everybody is having their fill of the big chill. Molly, for instance, is entirely lacking in lazy bones, and she will be very busy indeed.

She usually is at the weekend.

That’s when this feisty female loves to march her way to the top of Scotland’s many munros. Last week she took part in the second Isle of Skye Blended Scotch Whisky Munro Challenge, which raises money to support the work done by Scottish Mountain Rescue.

Molly easily reached the peak of Beinn Ime in the Arrochar Alps. But that’s not all. She completed the task without wearing boots or socks. She also didn’t bother with a coat, apart from the one she was born in, that is.

Molly is a pet dog.

Along with her owner, friend and confidante, Elizabeth McKinnon, Molly has scaled every single Munro in Scotland – all 282 of them. Last Saturday’s Munro Challenge was the day she completed that landmark.

However, Molly is a humble mutt, and she doesn’t like to boast about her exploits. Which is why The Herald chose to talk to her owner, instead.

“I just love climbing the hills with Molly,” says Elizabeth, a retired staff nurse from Dollar in Clackmannanshire. “Molly adores it just as much as me. It’s her life. She especially enjoys the grassy munros where she can run around.

“But she’s also happy on the rocky ones where she can just find her own routes. The great thing is that if we go up a hill, and it’s misty, and we come down the same way, I don’t need a map and compass.

“Molly will just lead me down. I take a map and compass, anyway. But Molly’s nose does the job so much better.”

Elizabeth, who is 58, never bothers putting Molly on a leash when they’re enjoying one of their high altitude rambles unless there's lambs about.

“For some dogs, I suppose, it would be hard going. But not for Molly. She’s very sure-footed and can really scale any rocks. She finds her own way round ledges and everything.”

One of the most difficult munros to climb is widely agreed to be Sgurr Dearg on the Isle of Skye.

It is topped by the In Pinn – the Inaccessible Pinnacle.

The In Pinn’s status is legendary. Even Sir Hugh Munro, who gave his name to the munro mountains, never climbed it.

So it must have been quite a struggle for Molly? Elizabeth chuckles. “I suppose I shouldn’t really advertise this, because it’s meant to be so dangerous, and I don’t want to slag it off. But Molly just ran up it, then ran back down.

“People might say: ‘How dangerous is that?’ But I know the capabilities of my dog.”

Elizabeth adds: “I think she’s about the sixth dog to complete the munros. A few years ago some boxer dog did it. But in my opinion he was cheating, because he was hoisted up the In Pinn. Where was his sense of adventure?”

Molly must be a very special dog, indeed. No doubt she’s a swanky pedigree number. The cream of Crufts; a blue blood bone-muncher.

“No,” says Elizabeth. “She’s just a little rescue dog. I call her a multi-pedigree. My wee Heinz 57.”

And Elizabeth wouldn’t have her any other way. “I sometimes climb with members of my family. I’ve got three sons and a daughter. But I don’t think I’d ever like to climb without my dog. Molly’s always by my side. She’s a great companion and a faithful friend.”

Elizabeth and Molly don’t intend resting on their laurels. They will continue to enjoy Scotland’s distinctive version of the high life – our majestic range of mountains. “From now on, we’re just going to climb some of the munros that we like the best. And hopefully also do some of Scotland’s long distance foot paths. It will be a bit of a change to be under the clouds rather than in amongst them.”

Molly and Elizabeth are seasoned hill walkers. But that’s not the case with Katy Macanna. The 24-year-old from Milngavie, near Glasgow, scaled her very first munro last year. She decided to do so after hearing about the good work done by the organisers of the Munro Challenge.

“I think promoting the work of Scottish Mountain Rescue is a very deserving cause,” she says. “And it was also a great opportunity to get out and see some of the incredible Scottish scenery.

“Plus, I saw it as a personal challenge.”

It certainly proved to be a challenge for Katy.

Along with a group of friends, she chose to climb Schiehallion in Perth and Kinross. The mountain’s name translates into English as Fairy Hill of the Caledonians. However, Katy didn’t spot any of the fabled little folk.

Just lots and lots of rocks.

“I went very early in the morning,” she says. “About eight o’clock. And I started the climb, and at first it was very steady. But soon it got steep and rocky. And that was quite a struggle.”

However, it was worth it in the end. “As soon as we got to the top, the blue skies came out, and we were suddenly enjoying spectacular views.

“So it was hard going at times, but really, really rewarding.”

Katy, who works in brand management, has always enjoyed pushing herself to the limits. As a child on holiday, she was the first to demand a ride on the scariest roller-coaster. Now she’s getting ready for another rambunctious ride on the rocky roller-coaster that is Scotland’s countryside.

She’s preparing to take part in this year’s Munro Challenge and hopes to climb Ben Lomond by the end of the month.

“Funnily enough, I think I’ll actually enjoy it a bit more this year, because I’ll know what kind of view to expect at the end of the climb. It totally took my breath away, last time, the sights I was confronted with.

“So I’ll have that in mind, pushing me all the way to the top.”