Probably one of the smallest of the Circi in recent history - only 23
people attended it. The weather forecast for the weekend predicted
snow and freezing rain, not exactly the prime hiking weather. At the
set meeting time on Friday evening rain poured in streams, and
dicouraged most people from showing up. On the bright side, we ended
up with more then enough transportation, and a hardy bunch of
people. We arrived at the cabin with the rain continuing
unabated. Everyone abandoned the thought of sleeping outside, since
with only ~20 occupants the cabin felt quite spacious. To everyone's
surprise, the rain stopped in the morning, and cleared up completely.
The rest of the weekend the weather remained wonderful - no need for
rain gear. It was a little muddy though... Well, that's history now.

Saturday the swollen river made the usual Baker River canoe trip a
rather short one - only about 2 hours, not counting the portages.  The
swollen river quickly carried the canoes downstream - and kept rapids
to a minimum. Landings on the snow covered banks provided a break in
the monotonous paddling.

Here is the real reason for all the information signs in the White
Mountains - they area a source of revenue for all the tow trucks in
the area. For all if you with 4 wheel drive vehicles, here is an
example of what not to do :) Scott with his truck, which took a few
hours to extract from the muddy parking lot.

Also on Saturday, another group went up to Franconia Notch to climb
the Old Bridal Path to the top of Mt. Lafayette. Interestingly, teh
snow started at the trailhead and continued all the way to the top -
no mud at all. Weather at teh trailhead was warm enough for
t-shirts.

Our small group of hikers by the hut near Lafayette. Wonderful views,.
but some persistent high altitude clouds. A snowstorm near the top
prompted the decision to turn back early, probably around 300 vetical
feet from the summit. The way back was mostly slip and slide. See Jim
Reardon's trip report for more details.

Sunday several people went on anther Canoe trip, while the rest of us
decided to hike at Mt. Cardigan. The clouds cleared up completely, and
visibility improved markedly. Heat turned out to be no problem at
slight altitude and among snow fields.

The participants of this Circus were lucky to see such great weather
in the normally misty White Mountains. A more detailed report of this
trip was written by Jim Reardon
