Extreme Loop: Saddleback, Basin, Haystack, Skylight, Marcy
plus Jay and Dix wanderings
June 2009 First day plan is for a giant loop of the upper great range from the garden parking west of Keene Valley: Ore bed valley to Saddleback, Basin, Haystack, drop into Panter Gorge and then climb Skylight and Marcy before returning to the Garden. Following days are moseys in the Jay and Dix wilderness.

Extreme loop: The Garden to Saddleback, Basin, Haystack, Skylight and Marcy; Miles 25.3, Cumulative Ascent: 9360 feet.	Jay wilderness	Dix wilderness wandering
Get to camp with a splendid sky.	Make trailhead a 5a, so the first pictures are kind of blurry	southside trail is muddy
the sun sneaks onto Johns brook	lovely spot	I peek at the new bridge by the interior outpost
stream near the ore bed lean-to	trailside rock	hobble bush in bloom
up the trail	bed of bluets	and oil from the moss
a spider's web	trail side slide	I know which way the trail goes
neat rock	a fern stretches by the indian poke	reaching the fine views of saddle back for breakfast
summit vegetation	old marker	trail on the edge
and worse, it goes down	soon enough to the col and calming trout lilies	and red trillium
a view back	red tipped goblet lichen	trail nearing summit of basin
more views	and rest	stream/trail
some clouds on reaching little haystack	snow patch on Marcy	a dark-eyed junco visits on the summit
Marcy and panther gorge	leather leaf	tamarack
descending to wet junction	down into panther gorge	climb, climb, climb to the summit of skylight
a rest	views all around	labrador tea sheltered between rocks
diapensia	lapland rosebay	alpine azalea
magnolia warbler	over to Marcy, view back to skylight	plenty more to climb
views all	around	a rest
tree creeping along the rock	lovely catkins (?bearberry willow)	snow patch up close
reaching treeline	light dims by JBL	the day ends with blurry hare
Next day, ascending the herd path to Jay	Canada Mayflower	white baneberry
hanging from a rock	bunchberry	star flower
foam flower	rose twisted stalk	chipmunk
reaching views	trees in flower	wild strawberry
deer tracks	three toothed cinquefoil	garden like walk on the ridge
with more to go	favortie lookout rock	great views
last drop	look back from the ridge	and great views
marker (beyond the summit)	but amid garden	white throated sparrow sings his heart out
returing to the ridge	pearly crescentspot	pasture rose
bud	wild columbine	descent through red pines
blue eyed grass	wood betony	porcupine
rest bya stream	water strders on a waterbed	bee on boxers
a favorite cedar	dam building	keeping a wary eye
another swim by	pink lady slippers	Into the dix wilderness: morning beams into an abandonned beaver pond
breakfast by the stream	big rock	maple with the red
painted trillium	waterflows	waterflows
waterflows	swallowtail butterfly	A grouse flew at me and feigned hurt; its head seemed smooth; perhaps the spruce grouse?
wild geranium	waterflows