The sun was out when we awoke, after having been soaked the day before. I went to the bathroom at 4AM and the stars were incredible. Carter and MattG got up at 5AM to cook "dinner" because we had eaten breakfast the night before. We dried out a lot of our stuff and headed out to Clear Creek starting a little before 9AM.
We made good time, ate lunch a little before 11AM, and got to Clear Creek about noon. Clear Creek has "trappers" and "hunters". They were all at lunch so I took the opportunity to dry my tent. Eventually they came down and told us that shooting lessons would be at 2PM, and a beaver trapping demonstration would be at 3:15. They even told us they gave haircuts (nobody would do it, no matter how much MikeB and Adam needed one!). They also told us that they would write postcards for us.
They showed us our sites and we set up our tents. Before 2PM Matthew and I addressed a few postcards home and dropped them off on the way to the rifle range. The instructors were dressed in 1800s outfits.
We placed "targets" (bandanas for Matthew and myself) on the hill. Ray lent me a bandana to use. We learned how to pour the gunpowder, lick the cloth, stuff the ball with the ramrod, and they let us take two shots each with a gun named "Cindy". Matthew hit his shot both times and so did I. The second time I hit it my bandanca flew about 30 feet in the air and traveled from the bottom of the hill to the top. It was great. Ryan shot for the first time ever. We went back to the tents and then Matthew and I went up to see the beaver trapping demonstration.
We sat by the fire for a while, and then Matthew, John, MikeB and myself, along with people from Houston and Philly, went down to a small pond off of the river for the beaver demo. All three scouts plus a few from another troop were asked to volunteer, and they had to actually walk into the pond, which was freezing!! They all played a part in order to learn how to set the trap and skin the pelts. When they were done they dried out by the fire, then threw hatchets at the hatchet throwing range.
We went down to the campsite to eat dinner, and it rained during the whole meal. After dinner we decided to participate in a contest that the staff was holding to create a "make-a-trash animal", and we made an awesome giraffe-a-pillar named Gigglepuss.
We brought it up to the advisor's coffee at 7PM, and then at the hatchet throwing competition at 7:45 we were awarded first place, and received a can of Black Powder gunpowder. I thought it was odd that they'd give our scouts explosives for a prize but the staff just smiled and said it wasn't necessarily gunpowder.
Matthew and John participated in the hatchet throwing competition, while I spoke with a boy from Texas and his mother about the Patriots and Boston area. After the competition they lowered the American flag while playing taps on the harmonica at dusk. The sky was gorgeous. We are currently at 10,200 feet. Tomorrow is our toughest day yet, where we climb to the summit of Mount Phillips.
Matthew said that Clear Creek was his favorite camp so far.
