Millie The Adopted Cat Is The Best Climbing Partner Ever

Craig Armstrong has the perfect mountain climbing partner – his lovely and devoted little black cat Millie. As soon as Craig adopted Millie from Furburbia, an animal shelter in Park City, Utah, they immediately bonded and eventually started going on adventurous climbing trips together.

Craig and Millie, the legendary climbing duo:

“I go on a lot of weekend climbing adventures. I always figured when I have a pet friend, I’ll take her with me,” he said in his interview with Bored Panda. “It never seemed odd to me, just seems like something I’d do with my pet, take her places.”

Investigating, climbing, exploring: these are things that all cats love to do, but Millie does them a bit more adventurously.

Millie’s gear consists of a harness, a leash and some rope.

“She’s a 5.4 – 5.5 climber. Generally she does best on slabby routes where she can scramble from ledge to ledge. She’s an incredible athlete but steep juggy routes just aren’t her thing. When bouldering, though, she’s done some pretty amazing gaps and dynos.”

Millie’s friend Kenneth leading a pitch in the American South-West

“Millie has all the qualities a good climbing partner should have. She never complains, no matter how bad it gets. She always wants to go higher, and she pushes herself hard. But she also knows when to stop.”

“I stay close when dogs come around but, like any little one, you have to let them learn how to defend themselves, so I let her stand her ground sometimes. I do worry about snakes but we haven’t had that encounter yet.”

“Start slow outside: a local park was first. I’d run from tree to tree and get her to follow. This got her used to being outside and following me around.”

“She doesn’t like wide-open spaces with no cover, so I’d take her to a big island in the Great Sale Lake, get out of the truck, and start hiking up a hill. Rather than be alone out in the open, she’d follow me”

“It’s taken a lot of practice and many trips to get Millie to the point where she follows me down a trail past areas like thickets that would have distracted her otherwise. Put your agenda away, be prepared to move slowly and explore the world around you at a smaller, slower pace.”

“Whether she’s following me or I’m following her I generally just stay close enough to rescue her from trouble. I love that little furball and I’d be traumatized if something bad happened, so I stay close.”

“Basically, if you’re going to take your cat outdoors, it’s up to you to protect them. They’re idiots, they’ll get themselves into trouble, they’ll get lost, they’ll get stuck on a ledge somewhere, so you have to be their wisdom. So be prepared to be attentive and go slow.”

The climbing duo relaxing after another mountain hike and looking forward to the next trip with sweet anticipation.