Edinburgh adventure dogs bag 90 munros in just a year

A pair of adorable cocker spaniels have bagged 90 munros in just a year - and love wild camping with their owner who gives them their own sleeping bags.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Adventure dogs Hugo, aged five, and Spencer, aged two, love running around the hillsides with their owner Hollie Jenkins, 26.

Hollie, from Edinburgh, got into hiking during lockdown and climbed her first munro, Ben Nevis, for her 25th birthday last year.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

At the time Hollie didn't know what a munro was but she quickly caught the bug for completing them.

A pair of adorable cocker spaniels have bagged 90 munros in just a year - and love wild camping with their owner who gives them their own sleeping bags. Adventure dogs Hugo (the darker dog), aged five, and Spencer (lighter brown dog), aged two, love running around the hillsides with their owner Hollie Jenkins, 26.A pair of adorable cocker spaniels have bagged 90 munros in just a year - and love wild camping with their owner who gives them their own sleeping bags. Adventure dogs Hugo (the darker dog), aged five, and Spencer (lighter brown dog), aged two, love running around the hillsides with their owner Hollie Jenkins, 26.
A pair of adorable cocker spaniels have bagged 90 munros in just a year - and love wild camping with their owner who gives them their own sleeping bags. Adventure dogs Hugo (the darker dog), aged five, and Spencer (lighter brown dog), aged two, love running around the hillsides with their owner Hollie Jenkins, 26.

She has now scaled 78 unique and 12 rebagged - sometimes climbing up to seven in one weekend.

Hollie wild camps with the brown and ginger pooches with the pups even having their own sleeping bags for in the tent when it gets cold and lights for their collars.

Hollie, who works in vet healthcare marketing, said: "For my 25th birthday I decided I wanted to climb Ben Nevis - at that point I didn't even know what a munro was.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"After that I thought 'let's do another one' and I just got the munro bagging bug and knew it was for me.

A pair of adorable cocker spaniels have bagged 90 munros in just a year - and love wild camping with their owner who gives them their own sleeping bags. Adventure dogs Hugo (the darker dog), aged five, and Spencer (lighter brown dog), aged two, love running around the hillsides with their owner Hollie Jenkins, 26.A pair of adorable cocker spaniels have bagged 90 munros in just a year - and love wild camping with their owner who gives them their own sleeping bags. Adventure dogs Hugo (the darker dog), aged five, and Spencer (lighter brown dog), aged two, love running around the hillsides with their owner Hollie Jenkins, 26.
A pair of adorable cocker spaniels have bagged 90 munros in just a year - and love wild camping with their owner who gives them their own sleeping bags. Adventure dogs Hugo (the darker dog), aged five, and Spencer (lighter brown dog), aged two, love running around the hillsides with their owner Hollie Jenkins, 26.

"It's a different world when you are on top of a munro, I love it.

"I have climbed 90 in total, 78 unique ones and 12 I have done more than once.

"During lockdown my eyes were opened to hiking and I got really into it."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Hollie said: "I put a harness on the dogs and I wear a bungee dog lead around my waist so I can still have my hands free.

"They have black and orange coats and 80s Lycra suits that look like Spandex because the temperature can drop and it can get really cold.

"In the winter the suits helps keep the snow off their fur.

"They each have a doggy sleeping bag for in the tent when it's cold.

"They also have little booties that I take with me for when we are scrambling to protect their paw pads and they help keep the snow off their paws in the winter.

Read More
A quick guide to Munro-bagging in Scotland
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We have figured each other out now, I let them roam and run around themselves, but they know when I call them they have to come back.

"They love to snuggle up with me in the hammock when we stop and are always trying to get into my sleeping bag.”

She added: "Day-to-day now our normal half an hour to an hour walks are not really enough anymore.

"They know as soon as they see the camping gear coming out that we are off."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Hollie said she doesn't get bored scaling the munros alone and that the dogs provide endless entertainment.

She gained more than 100,000 followers on her Instagram page in just a year which documents their adventures and gives other people advice on hiking with dogs.

Hollie said: "I feel safe wild camping with the dogs, it's not something I have ever really worried about.

"Most of the time at the summit I am the only person around and when we camp at ground level they will bark when someone walks past the tent.

"I like being out by myself and just having time to think - it's never boring with the dogs they provide lots of entertainment."

Related topics: