This is a weekend-long trip running Friday evening to Sunday evening, with a mandatory pre-trip meeting on Wednesday 5/3 at 7PM on campus. Please only sign-up if you can commit to the mandatory pre-trip meeting and the full weekend.

The lottery will run on Monday 5/1 at 3PM and we will immediately notify those on trip and waitlisted. Spaces often open up for those on the waitlist.

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What is a Circus?

Circus is a Friday evening to Sunday evening event with hiking and other outdoor trips based out of MITOC's Camelot cabin near Groton, NH. We carpool up Friday night and plan trips for Saturday, go on those trips Saturday followed by dinner and planning Sunday trips, then go on trips Sunday and drive straight home. It's a great way to meet fellow outdoorsy folks, explore the White Mountains, hang out at the cabin, and get outdoors. We’ll provide a light breakfast Saturday and Sunday, dinner Saturday, s'mores materials, gear rentals, and trips leaders. Come prepared with ideas for hikes you're psyched to do as trip planning is a collaborative process!

Disclaimer: We will likely be low on climbing leaders for this circus. This circus will probably be just hiking trips (of all difficulties), unless somebody gets their act together and organizes a bike or canoe trip. Swimming detours may happen for those brave souls with the courage to get into freezing-cold snowmelt.

MITOC Membership

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

Signup & Lottery

Sign up for the trip on this page before MONDAY, May 1 at 3PM. On Monday, 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.

Shared Responsibility and Saturday Dinner

MITOC operates on a shared adventure model and expects all participants to be engaged and help make the trip smooth and fun. Our volunteer trip leaders are trained to ensure trips operate safely, but we are not a guide service.

Everyone on the trip will also be expected to help with Saturday dinner - either cooking or cleaning up - and assist with cleaning as we head out Sunday morning.

Pre-trip Meeting and Gear

If you are selected by the lottery, there will be a mandatory pre-trip meeting held on WEDNESDAY May 3 at 7 pm on campus (ROOM TBD). We'll discuss logistics, timing, rideshare, tips and tricks, and any questions. We may follow the pre-trip meeting with a small circus-only office hours to rent any needed gear, depending on volunteer availability (we’ll let you know as soon as we do). Otherwise, there will be office hours on Thursday May 4 from 6-7pm and Friday May 5th 12 - 1 pm at the boathouse (N52) where you can rent MITOC gear. MITOC has tents, sleeping bags, foam pads, packs, and other potentially useful gear.

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. If you have desk credit, you may also pay using that.

The fee 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 request 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. If you are an MIT undergrad, we now have the ability to help with gas costs, please reach out if you’d like to take advantage of this assistance.

Rideshare

As with trips, our carpooling is a shared adventure model relying on the kindness of those with cars to carpool with those who don’t. A rideshare & logistics spreadsheet will be sent out via email to circus participants after the lottery runs - use this spreadsheet to coordinate. 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 and accurate!! Riders – Please be kind and courteous to your drivers, be on time, don’t expect door to door service, be tidy in the car, and please be generous and promptly reimburse drivers without making them beg. Car ownership, gas, tolls, insurance, and maintenance add up fast.

Schedule and Cabin Info

Friday: Carpool up to the cabin. It takes about 2.5 hours to get from Campus to Camelot without traffic, so most people will leave between 6 and 6:30PM (and eat dinner first). Everyone should be at the cabin by 9PM when we meet to plan trips for Saturday.

Saturday: Everyone goes on trips in the lovely outdoors! 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. Cars return directly to Boston/Cambridge from Sunday trips; return time varies depending on the length of your trip.

Cabin Details: Camelot is a rustic cabin near Rumney, NH. It has limited electricity, a wood stove for heating, and no running water. Please bring plenty of water - recommended 2L+ per day, and many trips will stop to refill on the way back Saturday or out Sunday morning. There is very very limited indoor sleeping space - most folks will need to sleep outdoors in tents, the lean-to, or (weather permitting) cowboy camping out under the stars. The cabin itself has a wood stove for minimal heating. Also, a campfire.

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 James Douberley and Janey Farina