Mollie & Digger’s awfully big adventures
In 2015 Julie Campbell wondered if she and her dogs could walk 500 miles; then six long-distance trails in a year, now they’re bagging 70 reservoirs and trig points. Inspire your walkies!
How old are you, where are you from and what do you do?
I’m 42, from Glusburn, West Yorkshire and I sell car parts at a BMW dealership.
And Mollie and Digger?
Mollie is 7 and Digger is 4. They are brother and sister, springer/collie crossed (Sprollies).
Sum each of your personalities in three words.
Mollie: Tearaway, Powerful, Goofy Digger: Soft, Loving, Gentle Me: Inquisitive, Dippy, Fun
How did you get into walking?
My parents got me into it as a child, we used to go camping and walking in the Lakes. I didn’t think it was as much fun then though, it was usually raining and I was more interested in getting a cheese sandwich at a pub at the end!
How and when did your dog walking begin to become more ambitious?
I got a walking app on my phone in 2014 and got hooked on trying to walk further. I set myself weekend challenges but never quite managed to find the time before the challenge ran out. I decided to set a yearly target for 2015 of 500 miles over the weekends (we walked 385 in 2014) then, after finding a baby hedgehog in a cattlegrid and sending it to a local rescue, we decided to make it a fundraiser for them. Now we’re supporting seven rescue charities with our walks.
How do you fit it all into your life?
I get Sundays and every second Saturday off work so I end up spending pretty much all my free time walking! It has become my main hobby and pretty much my life outside work. If I get a few days off in a row I try and fit in a long-distance walk.
How did you go about deciding what was achievable?
In the first year I just tried to do a bit more than I normally would, and we ended up actually walking 600 miles rather than the 500. In 2016 I bit off far more than I could chew as I had misjudged how difficult the walks and the logistics would be. Our first ‘ Way’ of our ‘Six Ways in 2016’ was the 50mile Calderdale Way. It was February and freezing, we did it in three consecutive days, got caught in blizzards, miscalculated mileage, myself and the dogs were sore and exhausted. I was coming home in tears and the dogs didn’t want to walk the next day! After that we said no to consecutive days and spread the walks out to make it a bit easier. We decided we wanted it to be fun rather than punishing. The problem with spreading it out though, was it took a long time to complete each walk. We were relying on lifts to start and finish points so had to match my days off with other people’s. By December I was in a massive panic trying to complete our final walk, the 100-mile ‘Lady Anne’s Way.’ We managed it in time to have two weeks’ rest over Christmas before this year’s challenge began.
It must be very exciting for them!
The dogs love it. The have so much energy, there is no stopping them. Mollie would finish a 20-mile walk and still be pulling on the lead to go further. But as they get older they struggle more the next day so I have to be careful with them. Their minds say ‘walk’ but their bodies say ‘slow down a bit.’ Digger is happy to do six miles then starts slowing a bit. I have to work around their needs and capabilities.
What do you find satisfying and enjoyable about these challenges?
I get to spend quality time with two dogs I love, we get to see the amazing places and have amazing experiences. Most of all, we manage to raise money for wildlife charities and homeless dogs by just enjoying our favourite hobby. It’s so rewarding!
How did you come up with this year’s challenge?
A friend suggested some reservoir walks and joked that we could call our theme ‘Reservoir Dogs’. It was such a good idea. We also have a fondness for trig pillars and wanted to bag a few. So we decided to mix them up for a bit of variety and do the ‘Reservoir Dogs and Trigpoint Trekkers’ theme. It helped with
“We get to see the most amazing places and have the most amazing experiences.”
the logistics as a lot of the routes were now circular!
What’s a typical day’s walk for the three of you and what is the furthest you’ve ever walked in a day?
The longest walk in a day was 26 miles – the first day of the Calderdale way. But if we are all walking together six miles is a maximum as the dogs are horrendously naughty when together. Their lead training goes straight out of the window and they try to race each other and I’m just bobbing along behind them like some kind of screaming rag doll! If I want to go long distance I just take the one and try to alternate, though Digger is scared of the van and Mollie loves it, so Mollie usually ends up doing more of the further walks. We are lucky to live on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales and there are so many beautiful places locally, so we tend to stay local if all three of us walk but go further afield if just one dog comes.
How far did you and the dogs walk last year?
663, compared to 600 in 2015. It was our aim to beat the previous year’s mileage as well as complete the ‘6 Ways’.
What’s your advice for feeding, watering and keeping happy dogs on energetic walking days?
Take pouches of dog food and a small tub of dog biscuits. Pouches slot nicely into pockets. I learned the hard way that biscuits in a tub are far better than being left in your jacket pocket to get soaked and turned to mush. Have a small water bowl and a separate water bottle for the dog! I’ve made the mistake of sharing water at first and accidentally took lime flavoured fizzy water on a baking hot walk where there were no puddles or rivers. Poor Mollie was most upset and wouldn’t drink it. I had to lift her over a wall higher than my head so she could grab a drink from a sheep trough. I now try to plan my walks to pass rivers, at least then they have access to water and if you use a lot of the dog’s bottled water on dry sections, you can fill up later on.
I’ve been inspired! What else do we need to know?
Start small and gradually lengthen your mileage as you get fitter and better at map reading. Choose walks that have places of interest on them or something to find/ look out for, like bagging a trig pillar or visiting an old monument, a waterfall etc. Don’t take too much! On the Yorkshire Three Peaks we took too much food and didn’t eat it. It’s a lot of extra weight. Small snacks throughout the walk are better than huge picnics. Leave spare clothes /shoes/deodorant in the car for the visit to the pub at the end. Tell someone where you are going and how long you plan to take. Don’t panic if you get lost. Avoid remote places until you are good at navigating. I’m not great at it so I always plan routes where I know there are roads or villages nearby and I know I can always head there if I get stuck.
What days stand out most in your memory since you started these challenges?
Completing our 500th mile in 2015 on a beautiful beach on the Isle of Skye. The weather was amazing, the views out of this world and some of our family had joined us for the final miles. We drank prosecco and paddled with the dogs in the sea as the sun set. It was so perfect it was overwhelming.
What equipment, either dog-specific or general, do you consider essential?
If you struggle with paper map reading, get the Ordnance Survey app on your phone (free with a CW subscription – see page 40). I swear by it as you can pre-plan your route and it shows you exactly where you are on the map. Take a battery charger for your phone and a paper map too just in case. Take basic first aid, a spare lead and boot laces, as they can break. Waterproofs, poo bags, camera and note pad. It’s surprising how easy you forget things on a long walk. Note down what you have taken photos of. I often arrive home with a camera full of places and I can’t remember where they were!
Is there a message Mollie and Digger want to send out to dogs reading this over their humans’ shoulders?
Get your humans out there! Set a challenge you can all do together. Make it your passion not a chore. It’s free, fun, and fantastic!
”The longest walk in a day was 26 miles – the first day of the Calderdale way.”