What's a Circus?

Circuses are Friday evening – Sunday evening event with hiking and rock climbing trips based out of MITOC's Camelot cabin in Groton, NH. It's a great way to meet fellow outdoorsy folks and check out the White Mountains. We’ll provide a light breakfast Saturday and Sunday, dinner Saturday, s'mores materials, gear rentals, and trips leaders.

MITOC Membership

You must be a MITOC member with an active signed waiver to attend circus.

Signup & Lottery

Sign up for the trip on this page before Tuesday, September 10th at 6pm. Trip attendees will be determined using a random lottery. The number of people that can join will depend on the number of trip leaders who sign up and the number of people who own or are willing to rent cars.

Food Coordination

If you are a participant, you will be asked to either cook or clean for the evening meal on Saturday. One of the trips on Saturday will return to the cabin early to start prepping dinner.

Pre-trip Meeting

If you are selected by the lottery and are a first time Circus-goer, there will be a mandatory pre-trip meeting held on Wednesday, September 11 at 6:30 pm at the MITOC gear office (W20-461).

We'll discuss logistics, then you can rent any gear you need. If you're renting gear, please bring a checkbook with at least 2 checks to put down a security deposit.

Trip fee

If you are selected by the trip lottery, pay the trip fee of $20 for MIT students, $30 for all others. It covers gear rentals, breakfast Saturday and Sunday, dinner on Saturday, cabin upkeep, and White Mountain National Forest permits.

Note: All gear rental is included in your circus fee, as long as you return the gear during office hours the week after circus. You will still need deposit checks though.

* There are no refunds, so paying is a commitment to join the trip. Don't pay your trip fee until you are guaranteed a spot!*

Please do not let cost be a reason not to attend. MITOC is committed to making the outdoors equally available to all of our members and has waivers available for the trip and membership fees. Contact the Circus chairs if you would like to apply for a fee waiver.

Rideshare

A rideshare will be sent out via email to circus participants after the lottery runs. If you listed yourself as willing to rent a car on your trips website profile, you may be asked to rent if we don't have enough drivers.

Typical Schedule

Friday, September 13: Carpool up to the cabin. It takes about 2.5 hours to get to Camelot without traffic, so most people will leave between 6 and 7 PM. Everyone should plan to be at the cabin by 10 PM when we meet to plan hiking and climbing trips for Saturday.

Saturday, September 14: Hiking and climbing trips in the White Mountains! Yay! Everyone will return to the cabin Saturday night, and we'll cook dinner, roast marshmallows, and plan trips for Sunday.

Sunday, September 15: Clean up the cabin in the morning. More trips. You return directly to Boston/Cambridge after your Sunday trip; return time varies depending on the length of your trip.

*Disclaimer: We're human * MITOC is not a guide service. We are an all-volunteer organization dedicated to helping the MIT community enjoy the great outdoors. Circuses are possible due to efforts from volunteers, trip leaders, drivers offering to carpool, and flexibility from everyone. When you sign up for this trip, you are indicating that you have read and understood all circus information and policies in this post and on the website.

Questions? Contact circus-chair@mit.edu