An elderly spaniel and his ex-Army owner are close to bagging all 282 of Scotland’s Munros.
Mountaineer Mac Wright, 52, adopted 10-year-old Genghis after his owner died three years ago.
Since then the pair have become hiking partners and tackled 268 Munros – a mountain more than 3000ft high – with just 14 to complete.
Last month, the pair scaled the nerve-shredding Inaccessible Pinnacle atop Sgurr Dearg, the second-highest summit in the Isle of Skye’s Cuillin mountain range.
Mac hoisted springer spaniel Genghis to the peak using a bag and a climbing rope.
The spaniel’s name was chosen by his previous owner but is very apt.
Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire, was born and buried on a mountain and encouraged mountain worship.
Mac said: “Genghis’s owner died and six months later his widow gave me the dog. It wasn’t an easy decision.
“I was walking him and taking him away for a few days.”
Trained as a gun dog, Genghis was used to being out and about.
So Mac, from Milnathort, Kinross-shire, had to find a new way of exercising his new pet and keeping him occupied.
The first Munro the pair scaled was 3232ft Ben Vorlich near Loch Earn, Perthshire, which they completed in the winter of 2016.
Mac set up a Facebook page, Genghis the Spaniel, to document their adventures.
He said: “We had a really good winter in 2016 and we were doing winter climbs up until May.
“We’ve repeated many Munros but around October or November 2017 we started bagging them.
“We’re doing the Cuillins at the moment. We’ve done nine but there’s 12 and we’re going back soon.”
Mac and Genghis are hoping to complete their mammoth challenge by the end of September, when Genghis turns 11. The final peak they plan to climb is 3261ft Sgor na h-Ulaidh in Glencoe.
Despite nearly losing Genghis in a snow cornice on Ben Lomond, Mac said heading off on their expeditions in his VW campervan is always “good fun”.
He added: “The biggest range we did was Glen Shiel, with seven Munros in one day.
“Ben Lawers is great as well, because there’s a bit of everything for everyone. It’s my favourite range, but I also like Ben Nevis.
“Expeditions are always good fun, taking trips with a tarpaulin or tent.”
The pair won’t be putting their feet up once they have bagged their last Munro.
Construction worker Mac said: “Instead of doing Munros, we’ll go back to places like Snowden and visit the Lake District.
“I’ve enjoyed climbing since I was a young lad and I was in the Army for 25 years, so I was brought up in the outdoors soldiering and training.
“I’ve always just loved the outdoors.”
