Lottery will run on Wed. 9/21 at noon, with the pretrip mtg on Mon. 9/26 6-7 pm at the MITOC office

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What's a Circus?

Circuses are Friday evening – Sunday evening event with hiking and rock climbing trips based out of MITOC's Camelot cabin near 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.

Disclaimer: We might be low on climbing leaders for this circus. The focus is going to be on hikes with ~maybe~ some Rumney climbs if possible. Also, Stand Up Paddle boards exist at the MITOC office for rental and maybe someone wants to use theM?

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 WEDNESDAY, Sept. 21 at 11:59am. Trip attendees will be determined using a random lottery that will run at noon. 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 Monday Sept 26 at 6 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 PERSONAL checks to put down a security deposit.

Trip fee and Pay Your Driver

If you are selected by the trip lottery, pay the trip fee of $20 for MIT students, $30 for all others. You can pay it here: https://mitoc.mit.edu/pay

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.

Please also budget $15-20 one way (so $30-40 total) to pay your driver, to reimburse for gas, toll fees, maintenance, etc.

Rideshare

A rideshare / master logistics spreadsheet 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. Drivers -- Please make sure your information is up to date an accurate!! If you say you can drive but don't actually have a car we may ask you to be a renter instead!

Typical Schedule

Friday: 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. There is no running water at the cabin, so bring your own water, and we recommend that you plan to sleep in a tent. Tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, backpacks and more are available for rent at the MITCO office.

Saturday: 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: 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