A stray dog has managed to climb to the summit of a 24,000-foot Himalayan mountain just to be with his new friends.
The intrepid dog, who is believed to be a Tibetan mastiff and Himalayan sheepdog cross, was called Mera by the expedition team as they had just been to the top of a mountain with that name when she joined them on their descent.
She made it to the top of Baruntse in Nepal in November without any help and was still able to run around once she had made it to the top - setting a new benchmark for the highest known altitude reached by a dog.
Mera spent three weeks climbing to the summit with expedition leader Dan Wargowsky, from Seattle.
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The guides accompanying Don and his team said they had never seen anything like it before. They first tried to shoo her away but were astounded by her endurance and embraced her as a good omen.
The Himalayas are a mountain range in Asia with some of the highest mountains in the world - including the highest in the wold, Everest.
The two were inseparable on their journey and Mera stayed in Don's tent at night to stay warm with her own sleeping mat and his coat to cover her.
Mera impressed the team with her climbing ability and only needed help towards the end of the journey when she had a wobble on a short vertical headwall.
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Don spoke exclusively to Pretty52 to say: "Spending time with Baru was definitely the highlight of my last trip to Nepal."
Once she made it safely back down the brave dog has been adopted by the expedition's base-camp manager Kaji Sherpa, who renamed her Baru after the Baruntse peak, and spends her days relaxing instead of climbing mountains.
For information on helping dogs in Nepal like Baru visit the Street Dog Care website.
Featured Image Credit: Don Wargowsky