July 12, 2004 - Woke up at 6 to hear rain on my tent. I’ve never slept in my tent during a rain storm so it was going to be interesting to see how it does. I wanted the rain to die down before packing up but it never did. I did get a lot of sleep though. So around 10 I decided that I need to get going so I packed as fast as I could. I saw that the other group that was at the site had already left. Then I headed out into the rain. I hate it when my feet get wet. The rain stopped soon after I got going. Hiked the 6 miles on the wet rocks, yes it is still rocky, to this outdoor center. It started raining hard again once I got to the center. It was good to be out of the rain but I was at the center for 3 hours. That group that was at the campsite last night was there. They left as soon as it started raining this morning since they didn’t have the rain flies on their tents. It was fun talking with them. They shared their lunch with me. They said that NJ has great views from where I walked this morning but the rain clouds ruined the views. Finally got moving around 3 and made it to the shelter before 8 and the big rain storm. There were a lot of people at the shelter but most were tenting so there was room in the shelter for me. A group was out doing a couple days of hiking; a bunch of middle school kids from camp, but they were unprepared for the weather and had to leave early. One kid in the shelter got very sick. There was no easy way for them to get a car so they had to wait awhile for someone to pick them up. Only 20 miles on the day.
