Some cats have all the fun, and that’s definitely the case for Simon, @backpackingkitty on Instagram. With over half a million followers and loving human, this cat has it all, and then some.
Simon, who has become known as the outdoor adventure kitty, loves hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, biking, sailing, skiing, snowboarding, sledding, and even swimming. His human JJ Yosh, @JJYOSH on Instagram, adopted the 10-pound black cat in 2016 when the kitty was a few weeks old. Shortly after, Josh started taking Simon on hikes and outdoor explorations
“I started taking him on every single adventure that I went on,” Yosh. “He loves being outside.”
Simon may have started as an outdoor kitty in Bombay, but he had a lot to learn about the great outdoors that he was soon to explore. Yosh began training Simon to handle himself outdoors and avoid predators.
“If you want to have an outdoor cat here, you’re really chancing it in terms of like how long they’re going to survive,” Yosh says of his home in Boulder, Colorado. “There’s so many chances for them to get eaten or attacked.”
Out in the world, when the cat gets tired, Yosh carries Simon on his shoulders. “That’s his preferred place,” the cat dad says. “That’s how he became known as Backpacking Kitty because he backpacks on my back all the time.”
Simon and Yosh go rock climbing in Breckenridge, white water rafting in Durango, and kayaking in Brainard Lake. The unlikely couple have sailed on Clinton Lake in Kansas, gone camping and rappelling in canyons of Death Valley National Park, white water rafted in the Sacramento River near Lake Tahoe, and road tripped from Boulder to the Florida Keys.
“I love how he is so curious about the world around him,” Yosh says.
Indoors, Yosh and Simon stick close together too. “He is my soulmate and my guardian angel.”
