Her name is Setuk, which is a name given to dogs with yellow eyebrows. She started following the Great Himalayan Trail team from just below Apa Sherpa's home village of Thame last week.

She was a playful dog, and we all took to her immediately. Some members of our team even swore that Setuk was the same dog that climbed up to Camp 2 (6,400m) on Mt Everest last spring.

We initially thought that she would follow us for the day and return home to Thame. But she stayed with us for the night in Thyangbo and was with us on the long and difficult climb up to the Tashi Lapsa pass the next day.

She was always there by our side and showed off her skills on the technically challenging icy sections of the pass. With hurricane force winds and minus twenty degrees outside, she stayed in my tent vestibule as we camped 100m below the pass. The next day we crossed over into the Rolwaling valley, and with the last possibility of return behind her she has now become a permanent member of the Climate Smart Celebrity Trek that started in Kangchenjunga in January and will reach Humla in May.

Setuk is a happy and dignified dog although we occasionally see a glimpse of her wild hunter side when she chases goats as we pass through villages. She is intelligent, trail smart and understands instructions as if she can comprehend our language.

Lately, she is a little spoilt as she won't eat just any food. You have to set it down gently in front of her on a plate, she is the only member of the team who gets the royal treatment.

Setuk particularly likes to roll around in snow though there is very little of that, now that we are in the lower valleys of Helambu. She has been very useful to us as a guard dog too, and barks at strangers who come near our tents. She has also been very helpful when the group splits up by going back and forth to show the way. Until today she has walked over 250km with us. There is another 1,000 to go.

Dawa Steven Sherpa