Nether Wasdale circuit

Britain's favourite view? So the TV programme said anyway - it is certainly fantastic on a day such as this.

Buckbarrow (which will be our first summit of the day) from the same place as the previous photo.

...and Middle Fell (which will be our final summit of the day) again from the same place. There is magnificent scenery in every direction when you are in Wasdale.

Closer up on Buckbarrow from Joss Naylor's garden. I thought about Joss a fair bit on this walk with it being his stomping ground - I think you could say all these fells on today;'s walk were his back garden. I met him a number of times and even walked these fells with him once. He was certainly a dog lover, he had a soft spot for our old Beardie Casper back in the day and of course Dougal who walked with us. I know he would have loved Finlay too.

The Scafells from the climb alongside Greendale Gill, there's not a cloud in the sky today.

The plaque at the foot of the Joss Naylor cairn, rebuilt by him to celebrate the life of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. I have been at this cairn twice with Joss himself and I know he enjoyed building it.

The Joss Naylor Cairn looking towards Middle Fell.

Buckbarriow summit. It was a real boggy trudge getting from Joss's cairn to Buckbarrow and I was conscious of the time it was taking. I wanted to see the sunset from up on high aiming to get to Middle Fell for around 15.45 (sunset 16.10) with a bit of breathing room to get down before it was dark.

Buckbarrow, Wainwright #8 for Finlay.

There was further bogginess on the next section climbing to Glade How, although a lot of the puddles were now iced over. As we climbed I could already 'feel' the sun starting to set and this is noticeable in the colour changes in the photos and of course the lengthening shadows. This is the cairn on Glade How looking at the next section of the climb to Cat Bields.

Middle Fell from Glade How.

Looking back to Glade How and Buckbarrow from Cat Bields.

The view across to the Scafells was constantly fabulous!

Looking out to the Irish Sea from Cat Bields.

The cairn on Cat Bields. Now for the climb to Seatallan across the boggy and icy ground.

Which view are you taking in Finlay?

Haycock from Seatallan.

Seatallan is Wainwright #9 for Finlay. He is getting into this fell walking malarkey now.

There is a superb view from the easternmost edge of Seatallan before the steep and dramatic plunge down into Greendale - from Great Gable to the Scafells with Yewbarrow central in this shot.

Scoat Tarn and Scoat Fell.

On the descent of Seatallan looking to Middle Fell with Greendale Tarn looking like a mirror.

Middle Fell - made it right on cue at 15.43 to catch the best of the sunset as 10 minutes later it was all but gone in this valley.

Middle fell - Wainwright #10 for Finlay and you can tell he has been enjoying himself today!

Haycock, Scoat Fell and Red pike from Middle fell.

Seatallan and the ridge just walked from left to right.

Sunset on Middle Fell.

What a fabulous sunset over the Scafells. We sat there for a few minutes, a oatie bar for me and a Bonio for Finlay. What a life Finlay, how blessed we are to witness scenes such as this. It was so peaceful today, not a breath of wind, the ever lowering sun and not a single person seen all afternoon...perfect.

The Screes.

I managed to take a shot with a wide angle lens whilst we were sat here (what I mean is I actually thought about doing it and remembered that the lens was in my bag!).

One last shot - I can't resist - and now it's time to be off. I saw two people climbing as I was going down, I think they missed the sunset if that's what they were after. What a fantastic afternoon on the fells.