An Socach (Munro) 944m: Friday 13th May 2016
Having spent the past 2 days in shorts and short-sleeved shirts, we were back to winter walking wear today with woolly hats, gloves, ski vests and leggings – and since the clouds were covering the tops and seemed to be particularly wet ones we also needed wet-weather gear. We decided to do this one quickly and return to Braemar for lunch. Although Walk Highlands give this route a guide time of 5-6 hours we completed it in 3½ -there being little in the way of views through the mist to hold us up and route-finding being pretty straight-forward. Unfortunately all the restaurants in Braemar were full so we ended up having a lunch of leftover salad bits – but fortunately we had some leftover wine as well.
In the afternoon I did another circuit of the Morrone Birkwood, while Alison finished her book - (?10th of the trip). In the evening we had a nice meal at the bistro in Braemar.
Plant of the day: Petty Whin (Genista anglica) Family: Fabaceae
Spiny shrub with brown twigs, simple leaves and yellow flowers with the keel longer than the standard, found on heaths and moors.