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Camping dogs are in the spotlight these days, but cats deserve some love too.

Millie, a two-and-half-year-old black cat, is conquering canyon walls many humans will never attempt to climb.

“People take their dogs to the crag all the time,” Millie’s human, Craig Armstrong, told weather.com. “I knew I’d take my pet too, I just knew it would be a cat, not a dog.”

The 38-year-old climber, who also works at Backcountry.com, an online retailer of outdoor gear, adopted Millie in the late spring of 2013 when she was just about six weeks old. He said he didn’t expect to adopt Millie, the first “kitty” he interacted with at the center. “She climbed up on my shoulders and we knew right away we were taking her home with us,” Armstrong said. The following fall, Armstrong began taking Millie out on his trips.

Armstrong is especially careful and attentive when he takes Millie out on climbing trips. Armstrong and his friend Zac take their cats out on “catting trips” to various places in Utah, such as the Alcatraz Canyon and the Eastern Reef, making sure to keep a watchful eye over Mille during the day. He said that climbing at night is actually easier, since Millie has an LED light attached to her harness.

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“She’s super curious and wanders off all the time,” Armstrong said. “If I don’t follow her to keep her safe, she could get nabbed by a coyote, fox, eagle, owl—who knows?” Luckily, curiosity hasn’t killed the cat, thanks to her cautious owner.

The most important part about taking a cat out to climbing trips is to be mindful of its pace, Armstrong said. Because climbing rugged terrain, such as slot canyons, can be long and arduous, Armstrong makes sure to keep Millie’s stress level as low as possible. “I do not rush her,” he said. “We’re there to achieve an objective, but mostly to have fun and be safe—no injuries or missing kitties.”

So far, Armstrong’s favorite trip with Millie was either the “1,000’ of Fun” in the San Rafael Swell or the Alcatraz Canyon slot canyon. The former is a four-pitch 1,000 feet sandstone climb in the southern Utah desert with stunning views and the ideal zone for cat exploration. Alcatraz, “a very technical slot canyon with rappels inside,” is “just stunning,” Armstrong said. “It’s trying, it’s gorgeous, it was really fun.”

These trips are something everyone with a cat could do, according to Armstrong. He described Millie as a normal shelter kitty just like many others. “She doesn’t have abilities other cats don’t have,” he said. “I think it’s more [about how] people need to take them places, be prepared to slow down, experience things from a different perspective and keep them safe.”

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