Our previuos two walks had almost completed our Top 10, with only Bowfell left to be climbed. Today's planned walk had been Allen Crags and Esk Pike, with the intention of climbing Bowfell from Langdale in September.

I was aware that David had been studying the maps and pondering over the proximity of Bowfell to our next walk, but he had been too diplomatic to suggest any extension, especially with the added walk to Styhead Tarn and Sprinkling Tarn, which we had decided on Tuesday, so as we set out from Seathwaite yet again. nothing was said on the matter.

Today was raining before we even got out of the car, and even the resident cockerel had too much sense to be outdoors.

The first part of the route, up to Styhead Tarn, was the same as our walk to Great Gable, and the conditions were quite similar too.

The only real difference was that David finally decided to use the footbridge in the valley rather than cross the stream.

Having passed Styhead Tarn, our route took a different direction as we turned left before the Stretcher Box and followed the path running through the depression between Seathwaite Fell and Great End to Sprinkling Tarn.

The rain had also more or less stopped by now, so we sat down on a suitable rock looking back to Styhead Tarn and had our lunch there instead.

This route gave us good views of Lingmell and Piers Gill, and as we climbed higher on the path, we also had good views of the Gables behind Styhead Tarn - a magnificent sight.

By the time we got closer to Allen Crags, there was no cloud on the summit, and it was lifting fast from Esk Pike, our second summit of the day.

We kept following the path past Ruddy Gill to below the Cross Shelter, where a junction offers the option of turning left to Allen Crags' summit, carrying on straight ahead to Angle Tarn and Stake Pass, or turning right to Esk Hause.

From Esk Pike, Bowfell really is very close, as the crow flies (though as anyone familiar with the Lakeland fells knows, the proverbial crow usually flies a lot straighter than than the paths to the summit!).

I could see David studying it, completely free from cloud for once, as we admired the views, and after thinking to myself for a few minutes about what my chances were of making it back to Seathwaite today if we went on, I decided that it was not fair to deny David his final Top 10 when he was so close to it, and I asked him if he wanted to go on.

After being interrogated for a few minutes on my general state of health, and how tired I was, I managed to convince him that there was an above average chance that I would make it down again.

There was absolutely no stopping him now and he was off like a rocket to Ore Gap!

And then suddenly, there it was! David had taken a slightly different route to me, and when I arrived, he was sitting by the summit cairn, looking incredibly pleased with himself.

I am not sure what I expected Bowfell's summit to be like, but whatever it was, it was nothing like I had imagined. This is not a good or a bad thing, it was just different, which surprised me a little because I have been fascinated with Bowfell for a long time, and have studied pictures and maps of it lots of times. Whenever I have passed it and looked up at it, I have always got the feeling that it was almost growling at me, usually with the summit in cloud, willing me to try and climb it. David says I am getting fanciful in my old age, which is probably true. But there you have it, I do get this affinity with mountains, which David finds slightly worrying and thinks I ought to perhaps mention to my doctor, and Bowfell is a prime example of this slightly odd personality disorder on my part.