Gym Class #7: Lumberjack Competitions & 6 Shows

Take your kids on a verbal history trip before visiting a lumberjack show.  With all the cheering and jokes, they may miss the connection to our European ancestors settling America, logging, and building wood homes.  Logging camps set up in the north.  Log drivers rode and drove the logs down the strong river currents from the forest to the sawmills.  When the spring thaw came, logs rafted downriver.  Wisconsin turned out 3.4 billion board feet of pinewood by the end of the 19th century.

No doubt your kids will have fun cheering on the lumberjacks at a lumber jack show. Most shows have multiple events such as the boom run, speed climb (competitors can reach 60 or 90 feet high in what seems like no time), chainsaw carve, crosscut sawing, and axe throw.  Multiple times I've seen these lumber artists carve a bunny chair right before the audience eyes and a lucky boy or girl goes home with a naturally cute chair.

The log roll always pleases the crowd.  Competitors stand atop a log, try to keep balance, can't cross the center line, and try to stay on the log longer than their opponent while spinning the log in water.

These shows focus on the families.  I find the lumberjacks to really enjoy kids asking for their autographs after the show.

Considering the logging history, it's not surprising that many of the shows locate in northern states.  In fact, the Lumberjack World Championships international competition takes place in Hayward, WI.  Shows can be seasonal, so plan ahead.  Here's six shows:

1.  Jack Pine Lumber Jack Shows - Mackinaw City, MI - June to September
Rated #1 attraction in Mackinaw City (TripAdvisor 2013), features nine-time World Champion logroller Dan McDonough, 1 hour show, $14 adult, $9 children

2.  Paul Bunyan's Northwoods Lumberjack Show - Wisconsin Dells, WI - May and June
adults $18, children $11

3.  Fred Scheers Lumberjack Show - Hayward and Minocqua, WI - May and June
1 hour show $14, children $9;

Hayward also hosts the World Championships and includes a Family Night deal ($40 entrance for 2 adults and up to 4 children) on Thurs. night of July 28-30 2016.

4.  Great Maine Lumberjack Show - Trenton, Maine - June to Aug.
12 events including power hot sawing and underhand chopping; adults $12, child $8

5.  The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show - Ketchikan, AK - May to Sept.
#1 in shore excursions for Alaska, voted Alaska's 10 Best by Travel Channel

Perhaps you have a hankering for a lumberjack show and it's off season, never fear, you can go to this year round show:

6.  Lumberjack Feud - Pigeon Forge, TN - year round
Show includes dinner, 19 events, ESPN athletes,  and World Champion Timberdogs. Adults $50, children $20

Most shows have relatively reasonable ticket prices.  If you really want to get a great deal, go to a county or state fair offering a free lumberjack show.  I've seen shows at the MN State Fair, Utah State Fair, and the IL State Fair (Timberworks Lumberjack Show featured in above photos, a traveling show, located within Conservation World on the fair grounds)

NPS #4: Grand Canyon National Park Mule Rides or 4 Mule Days

Mules at Grand Canyon National Park  Photo by Krenda Frushour

Mules have played a part in American history through agriculture, war, pulling canal boats along the Erie Canal, and hauling goods along the trail rides west.  Famous leaders appreciated mules from George Washington the mule breeder to President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir riding mules in now Yosemite National Park.  If you have older kids age seven or above, your kids can ride mules in national parks.

Mules have characteristics that make them right for the job of carrying people near a canyon rim.  As an offspring of a donkey and horse, many consider mules as hardy and long-lived, less likely to spook, slower, more patient, and having higher endurance than horses.    

Grand Canyon Bright Angel Lodge

Shuttle to Mule Rides

We took a mule ride along the Grand Canyon south rim.  Reserve early because the park limits the number of riders per day.  The Grand Canyon is a popular National Park.  National Geographic's book 100 Places That Can Change Your Child's Life lists the Grand Canyon as a must see site, "The iconic Grand Canyon experience is the overnight mule ride down to the Colorado River; riders must be at least four feet seven inches tall and weight less than 200 pounds.  The ride can be physically taxing, especially in the heat of summer."
We had my younger, shorter nephew and took a less taxing ride under two hours.  It began our adventure by checking in at the Bright Angel Lodge's transportation desk.  The employees checked whether we met the requirements (above age seven years old, below two hundred pounds).  A shuttle bus took us to the mules and wrangler.  Park employees helped visitors get into the saddle and they assured us of the positive mule traits such as sure-footed and motivated by self preservation.  Our mules took us up and down the trails, through the forest, and giving us unique views of the canyon.  I'd suggest wearing jeans, sunglasses, hats, and bandanas.  The sun shines down and the dust kicks up.    

Grand Canyon guide, photo by Krenda

National parks seem like the perfect place for a mule ride.  It combines the natural beauty of the park and guides to tell you more about the park.  The Grand Canyon offers rides at both the north and south rim.  Here's three other national parks offering mule rides:

1.  Yosemite National Park by Big Trees Stables, 2 hour horse or mule ride, views of Big Trees Lodge, the Wawona Meadow Loop, a former encampment, and Wawona Dome.  $65/rider.

2.  Bryce Canyon National Park - Bryce Canyon Lodge, leaving from Sunrise Point for views of Wall of Windows, The Chessman, and Bristle Cone Pine Trees; 2 hour tour to canyon floor $65 or 3 hour Peek-A-Boo loop trail $90

3.  Zion National Park by Canyon Trail Rides - offered March to Oct., one hour trip Virgin River Ride $45/person includes view of Three Patriarchs, The Beehives, and cactus gardens or 3 hour tour along Sand Bench Trail $90 offering views of the park's southern end

 If you want to spend less than $65/person, find other ways to get your kids close to mules.  Look for a Mule Days festival.  Here's four annual Mule Day festivals:

1. Mule Days Bishop (Bishop, CA, Memorial weekend, Sat. show $15 adult and $10 child): attracts over 300,000 fans, 700 mules, and 14 shows within six days, boasts the "World's Longest Non-Motorized parade", watch hitch classes, timed cones, donkey driving timed, team roping, Sat. night dance $10, BBQ dinner $25 adult and $10 child
 

View from mule, Grand Canyon NP, photo by Krenda

2. Mule Days Columbia (Columbia, TN, April, Fri. & Sat., $10 and free for kids under 12)- celebrate the "mule capital" of the world, even began in 1840 and now over 200,000 people attend; lumberjack competitions, clogging, log pulling competition, bluegrass music, gospel singing, worship service, chili supper, dance, Mule Day Queen competition; entertainment includes a mule pull contest requiring a pair of mules to pull a sled loaded with cinder blocks ten feet

3.  Benson Mule Days (Benson, NC, Benson Singing Grove downtown, 4th Sat. of Sept.), attracts 40-50 thousand people, rodeo $15, American Legion dance $9, mule pulling contest, camping, sidewalk chalk art, bluegrass, karaoke, 
 
4.  Harrison Mule Days (Woodbine, MD, Carroll County Equestrian Center), primitive camping $20, mule jump, hay ride, baby bottle race, night coon hunt, cornhole tournament, animal dress-up competition, cowboy church, and auction