Distance: 6.43 miles

Max Altitude: 18m

Min Altitude: 2m 

Height Gain: 73m 

Height Loss: 73m

The morning weather in Deganwy was an unsettling mixture of high winds, dark clouds, fine rain, bright sunlight and mugginess. As soon as I got on the Wales Coast Path and started walking I felt clammy and uncomfortable.

The sight of Conwy Castle across the bay was impressive but I couldn’t help wondering how much better it would look  in good weather.

I crossed the river into the town next to the famous Telford Bridge.

I had already decided to spend a bit of time in the town instead of my usual thing of just passing through. I have almost always felt guilty during my trek, of not devoting enough time to getting to know unfamiliar places and breezing through. So I had chips at the Galleon.

After I finished eating, I met a couple from Nevada – Eli and Deborah – who were visiting north Wales and walking some of the path. Incredibly, he was a transplant expert and was very knowledgeable about pancreatic cancer. We spent ages chatting and it was good to hear his perspective on the disease.

We said our goodbyes and I wandered around the harbour for a while.

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The Wales Coast Path goes right along the harbour and past the smallest house in Britain. I remember visiting here when I was 9 and thinking that it wasn’t really that small.

It was time to follow the path and leave the town behind me, much as I didn’t want to. The weather had cleared up to reveal a beautiful blue sky.

A few hundred metres out of the harbour and on the path next to the marina, I saw a dog bounding around out of control with the owner nowhere to be seen. Oh no, I thought. I’m not the biggest dog fan on earth. It must have read my mind because it came running up to me a high speed and jumped right up on me. Its owner appeared and tried to call the dog away from me but it wouldn’t listen. By this time it was behind me and had bitten into my roll mat and wasn’t letting go, while I shouted at the owner to get it off me. Finally she managed to wrestle it away but I was left a bit shaken. Give me a cat any day, frankly.

The trail rounded the estuary onto Morfa Conwy, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, which is next to a golf course. I saw a sign for an area that had been fenced off in order to give a type of moth a helping hand so that it didn’t get trampled by walkers. Apparently this is the only place in Wales where the Belted Beauty moth calls home.

Opposite me was Y Gogarth (Great Orme) looking splendid under blue skies.

The water looked so inviting that I was going to have to dip my toes in.

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I walked on a bit more into the evening and then sat down for a while watching the waves. This would be a good spot to stop and pick up from tomorrow.