MEET Annabelle – the UK’s youngest munro-bagging baby.
The gorgeous girl was taken on her first trek just ten days after being born and had ticked off her first munro by six months.
Now she has conquered three 3,000ft-high mountains and two large summits – all before turning nine months old.
And her parents joke that by the time she is two, the tot could have completed all 282 munros in the country.
Stuart and Clare Igoe, from Darwen near Blackburn, were both actively involved in outdoor pursuits when they discovered Clare was pregnant last year.
Rather than settle for a quieter lifestyle, they decided to incorporate their first-born into their favourite hobbies, including camping, hill walking and even rock-climbing.
When Annabelle hit six months old they took her up her first munro – Carn Aosda (3,008ft) in Aberdeenshire.
The tot enjoyed the trip so much that they completed her second munro, the nearby Cairnwell mountain (3,061ft), in the same day.
Shortly after came her third – Glas Maol in the Highlands (3,504ft) – and then two more big mountains in England.
Stuart, 57, and Clare, 41, take it in turns to carry Annabelle and push her in an all-terrain buggy when they go on their adventures.
They say the youngster, who is currently at the crawling stage, thoroughly enjoys the trips – and has even been known to fall asleep whilst being pushed along bumpy paths.
Pictures of the family show them proudly posing atop numerous mountains with their daughter grinning as she is wrapped up warm in thick coats.
Other snaps show Annabelle enjoying a trip to a rock-climbing centre, where she can be seen holding on to the ropes in front of a steep wall.
There are also adorable photos of her snuggled up to Clare in their “tin tent” van, sat on her potty as her mum cooks sausages and playing with one of Stuart’s compasses.
Clare said: “Things did get a bit trickier when Annabelle came along, but we didn’t let that stop us.
“It now takes a lot more planning before we can go out on a walk – we have to take nappies, food and warm clothes for her.
“She’s so well wrapped up, she is definitely the warmest out of the three of us.”
Stuart, who runs his own outdoor activity business, said: “Annabelle was an unexpected but very happy surprise for us.
“Since we took her out with us from a young age she doesn’t know any different, and really seems to enjoy it.
“We started off going on short trips from home and built it from there. Other families with an interest in the outdoors should just start easy and work up to longer and further walks.
“In time, with patience and a lot of layers, we hope Annabelle will be able to reach the tops under her own steam.
“But for now, while she is still young, we have a choice of calming our plans or develop tactics to continue our adventures.”
When asked about what kind of reaction their pursuits have received, Stuart said: “You get two extremes of people – some who think we are daft and some who think it’s great. It’s like marmite.”
Stuart and Clare say that their experiences so far have provided them with a wealth of memories – and they hope to continue their pursuits into the distant future.
