Water...

H: 

Yesterday I used an outdoor shower.  I decided to do my  laundry at the same time.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.  Halfway through the shower/laundry it started to rain.  The hot water from the shower mingled with the cold water from the rain running off the roof of the building I was standing next to.  

I tried to hang the sopping wet clothes up under an eave so that they would dry.  The rain poured down for an hour then stopped.  The humidity remained and later in the evening the rain started again.  The clothes never dried.  

That was last night.  This morning everything was still wet.  After squeezing 8 people into a "4 person" shelter we all woke up early... for us.  It was still raining.  Do I wear soaking wet clothes to hike in or do I wear my sleep clothes?  I hiked out in my sleeping clothes under my rain gear and our day started.  It rained all day.  Some point in the day on the trail we crossed into New York.  

We made it to Unionville, NY to pick up a mail drop, then hiked on in the rain.

We made it to the state line and crossed back into New Jersey, it kept raining. 

We hiked a mountain in the rain.  

At the top we took refuge in a shelter at the rain let up.  Freight Train joined us and a new face "Rope" settled into the shelter. 

Should we stay or go on to the next town?  It was only 1 P.M. and the rain had let up.

The rain started back up and we hiked on somehow persuading Rope to join us in our hike to the next town... in the rain.

4 wet hikers standing by the side of the road after hiking down a mountain in the rain caused a car to come to an abrupt halt.  Jay, a very kind local, took us to town and we are now sheltering in the St. Thomas' Episcopal Church Hostel in Vernon, New Jersey... in the rain.

What was the first thing I did when I got here?  Took a shower.