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After an accelerating rate of Munro bagging in 2020, aided by the distinct lack of anything else to do, our dog Sammy was only 1 tick away from from his double-figures. It seemed churlish to not give the wee man the opportunity to achieve his goals, so we headed up An Socach whilst staying in Glenshee.
Also my 35 birthday, so some kind of achievement for all seemed to be required. Armed with a sense of purpose, we started along the track. Despite a drizzly forecast, the sun was out, the mood was high, and it was a nice flat start.
Sammy had a very jolly time finding some bogs to play in, as per usual.
We found the spot where the walk advises cutting up to the right, and immediately took the wrong path. It was a clear day and this was no issue, so we meandered happily up the side of the burn and across the flatter area.
Quite a few folks making the most of the good weather, so we watched several groups all missing the same path behind us. Coming up to the next part of the ascent, it was short, sharp and pretty brutal. We dragged ourselves up the top, and had a wee Tunnocks break to celebrate the hardest part of the day.
The rest of the walk is a surprisingly clear and easy wander along a very broad Cairngorms-style ridge towards the small cairn at the end. Definitely better to go down one side to avoid the worst of the boulderyness at the top, but either way it was an unstressful jaunt to the summit.
Quick nip to celebrate Sam's victory and my successful aging, then straight back down the same way.
The main point of the walk, as always, was to absolutely justified the bottle of bubbly and hot tub/llama drinking trough at the end.
