🎪 Welcome to the Big Top Circus — at the Camelot cabin! 🎪

Key dates

• Sign-ups open: Now!
• Sign-ups close and lottery runs: Sunday, August 2nd at 6PM
• Mandatory pre-trip meeting over Zoom: Tuesday, August 4th at 6PM
• Drive up: Friday, August 14th after work
• Trips: Saturday and Sunday

What is a circus? It's a super fun weekend of adventuring in the White Mountains and beyond! We do all sorts of things like hiking, scrambling, rock climbing, bushwhacks, trail running, swimming, sunrises, stargazing, and making s'mores. We will meet at the cabin Friday night, go on trips Saturday, come back to the cabin to share dinner and stories on Saturday night, and then go on another trip Sunday before heading home. We plan and sort people into trips while we're there, to give you a hint of why it's called a circus 🎪

It's a great way to get on your first MITOC trip, to try out camping or a new sort of trip, to meet outdoorsy friends, and to get two trips in for only one drive up! If you need a tent, a backpack, or something else to get outdoors, we have a lot of gear to rent at MITOC (see mitoc.mit.edu/rentals/prices)

For this circus, we will be basing ourselves out of MITOC's Camelot Cabin, close to Plymouth, New Hampshire. We'll be right by some amazing hiking, like Mount Cardigan, Mount Moosilauke and Franconia Ridge. We're also close to Rumney, home to some incredible rock climbing for all abilities. It's a short drive down to some awesome swimming spots too, like Newfoundlake and the Pemigewasset river. We can fit lots of people in to Camelot & surrounds, so the more the merrier!

Who should join? You! And your friends! We especially encourage current MIT students to join and typically prioritize them in the lottery. The basic prerequisites are that:

• You have the fitness to do a 5-mile day hike on varied terrain, two days in a row.
• You are excited for cabin camping (sleeping bags) or tenting.
• You're happy to help out with cabin chores, clean up, etc.
• And you have lots of stoke!

We will have a mix of hard hikes (15+ miles), moderate hikes (4-7 miles), and non-hiking activities depending on what leaders are psyched to do.

Sounds great! What do I need to do?

1. Make sure you have an active MITOC membership and waiver: https://mitoc.mit.edu/join
2. Sign up for the lottery. We'll email those who make it onto the trip.
3. Attend the pre-trip meeting (mandatory).
4. If you have a car and are willing to help with driving, update your profile and select "driving". We typically give preference to folks who can help drive others to/from NH.

What does this cost?

• Non-Students: $40
• Students: $20
• Discounts: If you are driving others to and from the trip, subtract $10. If you are actively organizing and leading a trip, subtract $10.
• Fuel: Expect to pay your driver about $80 on fuel and maintenance costs.
• Food: Saturday dinner and Saturday + Sunday breakfast will be provided. You'll need to pack Saturday + Sunday lunches.
• Financial Aid: There is no-questions-asked financial aid available for MIT students. Please reach out if cost is a barrier!

What gear do I need?

If you need to rent gear, there will be office hours at the MITOC office in the student center (check the schedule for times). A detailed packing list will be emailed, but expect to bring:

• Sleeping bag & Sleeping pad
• Backpack >15L (rentable)
• Water bottles (more than 2L water for the day, plus extra to refill since there is no running water at the cabin!)
• Personal snacks/lunches for two days
• A bowl and spoon to eat dinner and breakfast at the cabin
• Warm insulating layers & wind/waterproof layer
• Sun protection (hat, sunglasses, sunscreen) & bug spray
• Shoes with good traction (hiking boots, trail runners, etc.)
• Headlamp, Compass & Whistle
• Activity-specific gear — as discussed at pre-trip!

I have more questions! Email us at circus-chair@mit.edu!