Day 41, Conwy Mountain CP40, Final day!

Forecast for my final day was a mixed weather day of sunny intervals and scattered showers. So I was surprised to be forced out of my tent at 06:30 because the blazing Sun made it too hot. Weather was extremely windy overnight battering my little Wild Country Zephyros 1 tent. It had stood up well although 1 windward peg had partly pulled out. I suspect principally because I had been unable to push the pegs all the way into the hard ground.

I was still full from last night’s meal in Ty Gwyn so just had a yogurt for breakfast from the camp honesty shop. My swift breakfast and not needing to strike camp allowed me I to start walking 07:37, the earliest I have started on this trip. Initial section was to retrace my descent of yesterday back to the ‘Maen Penddu’ stone. This took 2 hours. Half way up was YHA Hostel Rowen. I had thought of staying here but the need to bring my own food put me off. This choice felt vindicated by the knowledge that I would have had to ascend and descend from here to get my Bus home tomorrow. Being at the campsite meant this was my only ascent.

From Maen Penddu route was over a well worn track for half a mile that changed to a grassy track, initially in open country, latterly bounded by Gorse and, as my sister-in-laws Jay and Cressetta pointed out from my photographs, Heather growing through them making this part of the route look really wonderful in green and purple. I had to agree with the Cambrian author Tony Drake, who described this as possibly the most beautiful section of the Cambrian Way. This lead onto the very steep Sychnant pass that was once a main coach road until a road was constructed around the headland Penmaen-Bach point. This lead onto the western lower slopes of Conwy mountain, criss crossed with wide footpaths where I passed half a dozen people walking their dogs. At this point the overcast weather of the last few hours turned to rain.

I few hundred yards further I was at the top of Conwy Mountain (check point 40). This was an extensive hill fort covering a few hundred yards of the top of Conwy Mountain. I walked past a number of what had clearly been fortifications and an information board providing more detail. At the east end of the fort the path began to descend towards Conwy. The route took me to the Afon Conway (river Conwy) estuary, then along an estuary side walking/cycle path passing many moored boats before entering Conwy.Read more