Day 2 of a short break in the Lake District. Started from Thirlmere on a v hot morning, on the steep path up Helvellyn Gill. The footpath has been "domesticated" with steps in places and is a straightforward but steep ascent. At 840m we passed Brown Cove Crags and then up past Lower Man at 925m. From here it is a short pull up to the summit ridge. For such a hot sunny day, there were surprisingly few people on the summit. We had a good look around the extensive summit ridge and watched others coming up Striding Edge and Swirral Edge whilst we had lunch perched above the steep drop to Red Tarn. The v hot day was occasionally interrupted by hi tec military jets whizzing by below us. After our lengthy break, we headed back down to Lower Man summit, then N down to a col at 800m and up to the summit of Whiteside. Here we left the main track and descended NW on a faint path that lower down becomes "the old pony route". This led us to the lower outlying summit of Brown Crag, after which we dropped the final 450m in 28c temperature to the Kings Head hotel for a well earned cool drink in the garden, before a short walk back to our start point.