<p>Just got one yesterday, in California.</p>
<p>How long do we have to sign up before it fills up?</p>
<p>I signed up the last week, I think. I'm pretty sure that everyone who wants to go gets a spot.. the number of participating students has usually gone up each year.</p>
<p>Sorry for reviving an extremely old thread, but I have a few minor concerns about OA:</p>
<p>1) What if you wear contacts? Since there’s no running water do people have trouble keeping them clean?
2) Are there a lot of mosquitos? I’m kind of allergic to them so this might be a problem…
haha.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>(1) Most of my (low-level intensity) group wore contacts. Since you clean them in contact solution and not water, it isn’t a problem.
(2) I mean, it’s outdoors. I don’t remember there being an abnormal number of mosquitoes, but I can’t imagine you’ll have a mosquito-free trip either.</p>
<p>Before you go, try Claritan when you have mosquito bites or other bug bites to see if it reduces the itching. Claritan has no side effects for most people, a nd lasts for 24 hours.</p>
<p>I highly recommend not wearing your contacts on your OA trip. This question could not be more timely as my DS just returned home for the summer after going on an OA leader training trip. He now has two scratched corneas from taking out his contacts with dirty hands…not always a lot of clean water to wash your hands out on the trail! Yesterday was our DD’s high school graduation and I spent much of the day in the ER with DS and missed most of the post-graduation fun. Forewarned is forearmed!</p>
<p>^ Would this apply to daily contact lenses, too?</p>
<p>Sopecreek…If your hands are dirty, it could be a problem, but I think for my son it was wearing the dirty contacts over a period of time that caused the abbrasions.</p>
<p>@glassesarechic
Did you do the base camp/outdoor adventure trip or just a low-level hiking trip? How was that?</p>
<p>I did base camp (meant to sign up for a low-level hiking trip but ended up at base camp instead, which worked out fine since I’m wildly un-athletic). Honestly, I don’t feel like any of the rising sophomore can give you a great idea of what different trips were like, because all of ours ended early because of flooding/cold! However, if you’re not into the idea of hiking for an entire week, and of packing up your life every single day, base camp’s probably the place for you. It’s for the person who wants to do OA and have those friends when they get back to campus but doesn’t really want to hike, honestly.</p>
<p>Haha, I heard about the flooding! That sucks. How often/how long are the day hikes? Or do you spend most of the time at base camp? If you didn’t go hiking that much, what did you do all day? Also, I heard there are BATHROOMS! So… running water? :)</p>
<p>I normally wear contacts but switched to my old glasses for OA. I am SO glad that I did. I did a moderately intense group (rock climbing for a day plus hiking). I can’t imagine wearing contacts. EW. I also put my hair in a ponytail and never left it down for long all week to minimize the feelings of gross hair.</p>
<p>I loved my trip, though! Dirt and all.</p>
<p>2 years ago it was around 560.</p>
<p>As a prospective athlete (HS junior), curious to know if fall athletes go on CA/OA or do they stay on campus for pre-season training?</p>
<p>Fall athletes stay on campus for preseason.</p>
<p>^I’m not sure if they have to. My friend was recruited for Crew and is doing biking outdoor action.</p>
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<p>In theory, most of the time is spent away from the camp either hiking or doing other activities like climbing or canoeing. But we spent most time at base camp messing around because flooding cut off the hiking routes and the water in the lake was too high. </p>
<p>As for bathrooms, there are outhouses scattered around, which is more than on most trips. But we’re not allowed to use the real restrooms or showers with running water because they try and make the trip experiences as uniform as possible.</p>