A Culross man and his Munro-loving dog have climbed all 282 peaks after a ‘life-threatening’ illness nearly scuppered their mission.
Gavin Ballantine and his springer spaniel Montmorency – known as Monty – ticked off their final summit at the beginning of August.
The challenge started when Gavin, a keen runner, could not tire out Monty – aged seven-and-a-half – and decided to see how he’d do up a mountain.
Despite having no mountaineering experience the pair conquered Ben Narnain, near Arrochar, in December 2018 and quickly fell in love with the climbs.
Springer spaniel completes Scotland’s 282 Munros
Gavin believes Monty has become only the 20th dog to complete the feat – made even more impressive by the fact he had half a lung removed halfway through their journey.
The 40-year-old said: “Around halfway through our Munro round disaster struck and Montmorency was hospitalised with a life-threatening case of pyothorax.
“A full sternotomy, a serious lung removal operation and a week in intensive care later, he emerged from the hospital having lost half his body weight.
“At the time I assumed our mountain climbing days together were over – and those thoughts were echoed by the vet.
“Incredibly, two weeks after leaving hospital he was completely unchanged and ready to go again.
“That was the first, and very last time, I ever underestimated my dog.”
At the beginning of August, the duo completed their final Munro, Ben More on Mull, four and a half years after their first.
Gavin says there were “several highlights” on their many adventures but a real standout moment was watching the sunset behind the ocean at the top of Beinn Alligin.
He added: “I would never have started, let alone completed, my Munro round without Monty.
“I truly cannot thank him enough for being my dog but, more importantly, for being my friend.
“Scotland is a beautiful place and our adventures have taken us to places I never thought I’d visit.”
Conversation