Two weeks ago, David had intended to walk this route and would have had he not been persuaded to change his mind on reaching the top of Dunmail Raise, from where he could see low clouds looming above Great Langdale. Yes, it's a low-level walk where the cloud wouldn't really affect the walk, but it would affect the views, and this walk has many.

I couldn't help but think that given the time of year and conditions, this had 'David's' name written all over; it's a walk that would have stood proud on Walkthefells home page six years ago, a walk for the rest of us would have taken quite a lot of planning, but not David. It's a walk and many more like it that David used to share, and for that reason alone, I feel quite sad but all of that is water under the bridge.

The good news is that myself and Rod came along, and we enjoyed Little Langdale and Great Langdale to their fullest potential. This walk had it all on a day when there was no need to get high to enjoy the majestic Langdale Pikes when we could view them through all the colours of Autumn.

Given the amount of miles we'd be covering today we had arranged to meet after sunrise at 8:15am, and I arrived early to find Rod had already parked up, having beaten his alarm clock to wake at the godly hour of 4:30am. "I was already up," Rod went on to explain, and he didn't see any point in going back to sleep. We had a quick catch-up, and David arrived with Calva and span his car around before parking in front of mine. Within minutes, we were all ready to go, opting for windproof jackets rather than waterproof, which had been packed in our rucksacks minutes earlier.

It was a mild-ish start with a slight nip to the air, no doubt enhanced by the low-lying mist which obscured views in every direction, with the Langdale Pikes completely out of view. With the cars locked, we joined the grassy path leading through the dead bracken over on the right before linking up with Redbank Road bound for High Close and Loughrigg Tarn.

We continued on the Cumbrian Way as we edged our way towards the village of Elterwater, where, over the fields our cars appeared. The path was now busy with dog walkers as we entered the village where we were forced to cut through a large group of walkers who were posing in the middle of the road for photos.

We left Bridge End and took in the views beyond Fell Foot Farm and the top of Wrynose Pass before joining Side Gates Road and didn't encounter any traffic until a van coming from the Great Langdale side caused a bit of jam by not wanting to pass a car from the Little Langdale Side who had stopped at a passing place, the van reversed slowly almost out of sight until we had caught up with the driver by which time more cars were queueing behind the car who was still waiting at the passing point.

I asked the driver to wind his passenger window down and explained that the car was waiting for him to pass at which point a good five minutes had now passed. Moving on ... the traffic finally passed us before we ascended the steep road section towards the car park from where we hooked a left towards Blea Tarn.

Seen as we make our descent into Great Langdale. That's Esk Pike beyond the top of Rossett Gill which up until a view moments ago had been enjoying some sunshine.

Despite covering less than 2,000 feet of ascent, feet were begining to ache, although we all agreed, none of us felt truly exerted by the walk. When David last completed this walk, it had taken him roughly six hours, and it looked like we might beat David's previous time by around twenty minutes. We passed over New Bridge with the hamlet of Chapel Stile beyond, with only the odd car making its way into Great Langdale, the road looked eerily quiet. Continuing on, we followed the path until it led us briefly back onto B5343, where we passed Wainwrights Inn, just two couples enjoying the beer garden, before we joined the path at its rear, where we crossed Great Langdale Beck for the last time.

The beck roared below as we followed the tarmac lane back into a bustling Elterwater. The Britannia Inn looked full to bursting as people ate and drank in the beer garden under the canopy of the famous Maple Tree. Cameras were held back as we forked right, passing Wheelwights Holiday Cottages moments after our cars came into view. With the cars reached, it was time to ease off our boots, which I did while sitting at a nearby metal bench. I took in the views of the Langdale Pikes, a view that, due to mist, we had missed earlier, while feeling utter contempt that we'd all seen as much of this corner of Lakeland as our boots would take us.