A group of us joined a friend as he completed his 46 on Basin. We chose the HaBaSa loop from the Garden to complete his journey. The weather was very warm and humid but a nice breeze was blowing which kept the higher elevations a bit cooler. Our last trip to Haystack was via Marcy so this was our first time taking the JBL trail all the way to Haystack. The approach was fantastic. The trail from Haystack to Basin is a very steep drop and did a job on our knees but the scenery along the way is great. The climb up Basin is a favorite with the scrambles and excellent views looking back towards Marcy and the Haystacks. Coming down Basin was a bit slick and we had a few slips along the way but the biggest thrill of the day was the Saddleback cliffs. The last time we tried these the winds were fierce and it was a scary climb. This time the winds were much lighter and it was a lot of fun. We descended via the Ore Bed trail and made it back to the Garden about 12 hours after we started including ~1.5 hours of summit time. All together it was a fantastic day.