This was an 'open' backpack where we started with a basic idea but no defined plan - set off from Conwy up the Carneddau and play it by ear. A footpath heads NW to a footbridge and climbs to the ridge of Conwy Mountain. The North Wales Path (NWP) has convenient waymarks through this hummocky terrain and twists its way around to the Sychnant Pass, giving good views of the sea and Great Orme to the N&W and Tal y Fan to the S with the huge behemoth of Foel Fras behind. Crossing the pass the NWP twists some more past Maen Esgob and arrives at 740750. A track now heads SE then hairpins W & SW and bends S to the foot of Tal y Fan 737736. A quarry track took us most of the way up then an easy climb led to the summit 610m.

Descending the rocks and a short climb over the minor rise of Foel Lwyd led to a steep descent to Bwlch y Ddeufaen. A stiff pull led to the main Carneddau ridge and a succession of tops, Carnedd y Ddelw, Drum and finally Foel Fras. The summit area is rocky but on the E side of the wall there is very good grass nearby and we pitched there. This location was also fortuitous as there was a strong cold NW wind (on midsummer eve) and the wall gave shelter.

The first surprise was that several groups of walkers with torches passed our tent in the night. When we looked out at 06:00 everywhere was beautifully clear despite mizzle on the tent around 04:00 and the cold wind had gone. According to another group, who passed us as we were packing, many were attempting the round of the Welsh 3000' tops around now to maximise daylight hours, and there were several groups bivvying in the hills and a fleet of minibuses was parked in Llanberis. What timing!. In the superb conditions we made haste to Carnedd Gwenllian, Foel Grach and Carnedd Llewelyn. Given what we had heard we expected to find a crowd but we were alone and lingered for a while taking in the views.

We really wanted to continue over Pen yr Helgi Du but there was no easy way back to Conwy, so we decided to backtrack to Drum and make an easy descent SE to Pen y Castell. From here we walked roughly parallel to the fence NE to the byway at 731700. Where it becomes enclosed, this degenerates into one of those Welsh jokes - two fences with standing water bog between them. We walked on the left side through the field instead and it led to a farm gate and metalled track and the lane at 743707. The lane leads NW to Cae Coch at 733715 where an attractive route leads high above the valley past Caer Bach fort, Cefn Maen Amor and Cefn Llechen. The descent is via Craigyfedwen to the Lodge at 758765. The rain started here so we took the road to Mount Pleasant.