Plan B - An Socach

[Jockstar]

Arriving at The Spittal of Glenshee on the Friday night we had plans to do the Walk from the Dalmunzie Hotel at the Spittal of Glenshee taking in Glas Tulaichean & Carn an Righ . We went and confirmed with the hotel paying our £2.50 for the Car parking for the next day and then set off to find a spot to wild camp ready for the big day on the Saturday.

Wild camp on Dalmunzie estate

That WAS the plan! However we found that before long we were looking down the barrel of a gun as none of us slept well and with Ruby in our tent very restless we ended up with 3 hours sleep! That and the wonderful birds’ chorus at 6 am meant we were very off the pace when trying to get ourselves sorted to start the long day ahead. After a meeting of the walking contingent (Su as chairperson) it was decided that we would reverse our original plan and go and do An Socach instead, and so headed off up the A93 to the start of the walk.

Parking is tight at the plantation!

The car parking seemed not to be the same as in the WH walking guide as the inner gatepost was padlocked and therefore only 3 cars would be able to park safely.

6 beautiful white horses

Making our way down the landrover track we hung a left taking us past 6 beautiful white horses towards the farmhouse which looked like a holiday let as windows were all boarded up and as it was by the Baddoch Burn would be great for a family holiday. We then had a debate as to the best direction, as the WH guide wanted us to cross the very old bridge to head for the path up towards Sgor Mor.

Road along the Baddoch burn

We then had a discussion that resulted in us carrying on along the landrover track passing two fords to reach the point we could head N.W. This was helped by the sight of the Cairn on the skyline that led us to the steeper slopes of An Sococh. All this discussion meant we had lost 30 mins and in hindsight was straight forward. Reports from other walkers had shown us that there were alternatives to our way and in the winter looked great especially the report by Chris W.
We set off along the wee path by the burn and made steady progress towards the cairn, stopping for a bit of a rest at a pool where mum and daddy Toad were there along with their thousands of offspring!

Mr and Mrs Toad

The cairn was in our eye line all the way though it didn’t seem to get any closer despite our steady progress. We made it however and decided it was time to take some lunch and recharge the batteries. We could see across to Carn a Gheoidh and the Cairnwell and the loch Vrotachan could also be seen.

Su, Myself and Ruby at the Cairn - and a break for lunch!

Onwards we went and made good time up the steeper section until we reached the first walled wind shelter and had a breather and Ruby had some more biscuits. It was all of a sudden that we had spent 3 and a half hours to the top that I realised checking the map that were were at the false summit!

The False Summit

It was another 1km to the ‘true’ summit and so after I did a wee reccee to see what the beleach could tell us that there was a clear path towards the furthest point to An Socath. As it was very stony I carried Ruby across the stones to protect her paws.

1 Kilometre west to the true summit....

It took 40 minutes later before we reached two more cairns at the far end of the hill, one of which was a wind shelter and so we had completed another Munro. Not long afterwards we were joined by Howzat and had a blether and took the obligatory photos. We also took a lot of the surrounding views including across to Loch nan Eun and our original walk to Glas Tulaichean and to the cairngormsin the north.

Su taking her pictures

loch Nan Eun with Glas Tulaichean

Before long Howzat had disappeared into the distance heading back down the way he had come and we decided to follow suit stopping at the cairn on the way back done to give Ruby more food and ourselves a wee break. We quickly went down the path passing the toads and before long were on the landrover track back towards the car.
It appeared quite a bit easier than it was but I think that was due to the disappointment of having that extra 2 kilometers to and from the false summit to the actual summit. However we will have bigger tests to come next week-end when we will be with other WH members in Kintail. It could be that there will be a close thing between the walking and the drinking as to which one wins!
I think that there are important decisions to be made at times and this was one that could have gone wrong for us if we took the original decision and tried to do the walk to Glas Tulaichean & Carn an Righ as I’m sure we would have foundered on the long walk. We have now pencilled in for mid summer when there is plenty light and time is not so important.

[ChrisW]

Great stuff Jockstar, (thanks for the kind words about my effort up here) shame you had a rough night with little kip but at least you did the sensible thing and had a great day doing a 'single'. I really enjoyed this hill but knew exactly what you meant when you said "The cairn was in our eye line all the way though it didn’t seem to get any closer despite our steady progress" I felt exactly the same on the way up there

The walk along the top to the true summit is a cracker on a a day like this

[2dalmatians]

Hi jockstar. It's uncanny how your trips resemble mine- dog called ruby, the use of plan b, drinking versus walking dilemma Good report

One point my Ruby has asked me to ask you to clarify. She thinks your Ruby never walks anywhere as she is always being carried in the photos. As such she would like to invoke that privilege or "SLA clause 14c" as she refers to it- specifically on the long walk back to the car. I have assured her that the aforementioned "carrying" is for photographic purposes only. I would appreciate it if you could confirm my interpretation is correct as there is no way I am carrying that big lump of spotty dog anywhere!! I fear if you do not respond she will take a formal course of action and seek arbitration via ACAS services (Association for Canine Alpine Support)

[Jockstar]

OMG The canine police are onto to us. Ruby being only 9 months old needs a wee bit help especially over stony ground. I'm sure you would carry your Ruby if his big paws were sore after walking over stones! ACAS would look
favourably on both Rubys as they only want to do the right thing

[iainwatson]

another great report! and your pictures are fab!

shame you had a restless night in the tent and had to go for plan b but you got glorious views,

see you and su at the weekend

[jonny616]

Lovely, apart from the barrel of a gun moment.

[quoman]

Hi Jockstar.
Plan A would have been some walk with a decent night sleep never mind 3hrs.
The route you took was the same as mine a good walk though.

[suhowfar]

Hi 2dalmations

I can confirm to your Ruby (and yourself of course )to save you facing any action from the ACAS services (Association for Canine Alpine Support), that our Ruby walks nearly all the way unless there is bad stony ground, she struggles with her wee soft paws (in truth think Jockstar worries about his wee babys paws more than she dose ) She also gets picked up for the photos as she is soo wee that if any feet are missed off in the photos then being small she would get missed off too!! And it maybe taken that she did not make it to the Cairn lol . Sorry to say to your Ruby that I agree with you, looking at the size of her, there is no way you should be expected to carry her (i'm sure if she did report you to the ACAS services (Association for Canine Alpine Support) they will show favour on your side )

Great to see you and your Ruby have as much fun up the hills as we do with our Ruby

[2dalmatians]

Su, thank god you posted! My Ruby was on the verge of industrial action - point blank refusing to bark at the postman in the morning, fetch my slippers or go round to the newsagent for the paper!! I will let her know the situation immediately and hopefully it will put a stop to all this militant nonsense!!