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Date/Time: 03/28/2024 01:30PM
Ted Lake to Robinson

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Previous Messages:
Author Message Text
TomT 06/22/2018 06:24AM
This is where you come out of the forest when going to Robinson from Little Ted. I knew I had a pic and thought I would share it. This is looking back towards Little Ted. I came from the forest on the left. It's a very scenic spot.












Minnesotian 06/21/2018 01:28PM
That McIntyre Creek is a real beauty of a portage and canoe float. I have been down it three times myself and still enjoy it. Its really fun in a solo canoe and early spring.
Eyedocron 06/17/2018 07:50PM
David? No name more, but if same David that went in with us to Quetico and Cirrus 6 years ago, a fine and congenial crew member. Sorry about his crew tragedy on Point Lake the next year. May not be the same David, but if it is, he may be interested to know two things:
1. The crew member who was an uncontactible no show did so because his wife had a terminal illness. She died in early 2017 and he has emotionally recovered to be with us again next month. This will be his 8th trip.
2. The newbe Doc who decided the trip was not what he anticipated for easy outdoor leisure is going with us again next month, ready for the adventure.
Ho Ho 06/17/2018 03:02PM
I'd say there's no doubt that going south through Little Ted and then bushwhack portaging along the creek is the fastest way from Ted to Robinson. That doesn't mean it's the best way for everyone all the time - you may want to see the other lakes etc. But don't be deterred from the bushwhack by the idea that it will be harder. It certainly poses its own challenges, but when all is said and done, it's easier in that far less energy is expended getting between the two lakes. I've done it twice, once with Banksiana and once with David, and both times we had a leisurely morning on Ted and were on Robinson in time for a (perhaps a bit latish) lunch.


tumblehome 06/14/2018 09:14PM
I did the cooler portage three years ago. It is a bushwhack all the way but it's not as bad as it might sound. The stream flows into Robinson. You just need to follow it all the way down. Sometimes on the left, other times on the right. There doesn't seem to be a 'best' side.


I found a large wolf skull on the portage and the infamous cooler. There is a bad grove of poison ivy at the end of the portage that I didn't realize until it was far too late and I ended up at urgent care when I got out. It was that bad. I'm very allergic to the stuff.


I would highly recommend the portage since it is a very beautiful but a somewhat rugged walk.


Tom
TomT 06/13/2018 04:10PM
I went Ted to Robinson in 2011. It’s not that difficult except watch your footing near the creek. There are some boulders to hop. Also right before entering Robinson is a stagnant beaver “puddle” with water that stinks to high heaven.
Banksiana 06/13/2018 03:18PM
The Little Ted to Robinson route is a bushwhack but it is not unreasonable or that much of an ordeal- usually takes about 1.5-2 hours double portaging. The creek insures against getting lost and here and there there is some semblance of a path (even a blaze or two popping up). As I mentioned before I've chosen the route fairly often and I'm usually traveling solo.


The McIntyre Creek route is a favorite of mine made less so by the blow down and the uncertain re-routing of the portage into Robinson. The portage out of McIntyre is a beauty (make sure to check out the falls) and the creek portion (most of the time a lot of wading with the canoe) is pretty and entertaining- the creek clear and sand bottomed, the valley narrow and fairly steep sided. It is possible to follow the old trail from the beaver pond along the creek and when the trail peters out in an area of considerable blow down clamber over the blow down to the creek and launch (have done this three times). There are still creek obstacles to overcome before Robinson is achieved but it is fairly standard issue beaver dam hurdles etc.


For certainty and ease of travel there is always the route through Deer and Cecil. The lakes are pretty and the portages easy and well traveled.
GraniteCliffs 06/13/2018 02:29PM
We call the Little Ted to Robinson either the Cooler Portage or the Heart of Darkness. There SHOULD be a portage there but no go. It is passable and you can't really get lost if you follow the stream. I have portaged it twice and walked it twice. It seems to have gotten even less use over the years.
cburton103 06/13/2018 12:08PM
Banksiana: "I did the McIntyre Creek route last year as well. There is a portage trail from the beaver pond that follows very close to the creek (on the left side going downstream). The problem is that where one would traditionally re-enter the creek there was a tremendous blow down that completely obscures the landing (I think the blow down is from early 2016). In order to get to the creek one must climb over a wall of downed spruce and balsam. Rather than clear this mess the portage crew has crafted a new "trail" that leaves the beaver pond via the left corner (SE) and heads directly to McIntyre Lake. This route was cut and flagged but scarcely visible as a trail when I went through."


That was my experience as well. I loosely followed the flags, but I don't recall seeing any cut trees. They all appeared to be all over the route I followed. Pretty tough little stretch for us!
Banksiana 06/13/2018 10:21AM
I did the McIntyre Creek route last year as well. There is a portage trail from the beaver pond that follows very close to the creek (on the left side going downstream). The problem is that where one would traditionally re-enter the creek there was a tremendous blow down that completely obscures the landing (I think the blow down is from early 2016). In order to get to the creek one must climb over a wall of downed spruce and balsam. Rather than clear this mess the portage crew has crafted a new "trail" that leaves the beaver pond via the left corner (SE) and heads directly to McIntyre Lake. This route was cut and flagged but scarcely visible as a trail when I went through.
cburton103 06/13/2018 06:29AM
Jackfish,


Sounds pretty similar to part of my trip from last year. Feel free to read my trip report on it if you’d like. We took he portage down McIntyre creek and found it quite challenging. You can follow the stream until it ends in a beaver pond and eventual set of rapids, where you must portage river left. The portage trail climbs a small hill then basically disappears, leaving you to bushwhack down a ways a back to the creek through thick undergrowth. Perhaps this portage has been maintained since last June, otherwise I wouldn’t count on it being much easier than what Banks describes. Either way, it’s a great area!
Jackfish 06/13/2018 12:22AM
Great info, Banks... thanks a lot. It looks so inviting on the map. I'm glad I asked. I think we'll head through Earl, etc.


Looking more and more like a Robinson - Kett - Basswood departure from Ted.
Banksiana 06/12/2018 11:20PM
Lets call the unnamed lake "Little Ted". Water flows from Ted to Little Ted to Robinson. Creek is not navigable (it is sort of a tumbling brook until about 3/4 of the way to Robinson when it flows through the bed of an old beaver pond). It is possible to follow the creek in a somewhat popular bushwhack to Robinson. I think I have done this more than any other human (three or four times last season alone). It has been referred to as "The Cooler Portage" on other threads as there is a busted up plastic cooler as you leave the woods for the beaver meadow. It is not that difficult of a bushwhack. About a mile long. The ground generally solid, the woods fairly open. Certainly the fastest and easiest way between Ted and Robinson. I have generally favored the right side of the creek (heading from Little Ted to Robinson). Last fall on a solo the only folks I saw in the Quetico was a group of three that I passed at the transition between ex-pond and forest, very close to the aforementioned busted cooler. That group had chosen the left side so on my return I gave that a shot. The right side begins with some thick brush to push through, the left side has less of that but substitutes some tough up and down to start. You want to be on the right side of the creek as you travel through the beaver meadow (by far the easiest part of the trek), after you cross the remnants of the old beaver dam it is time to cross the creek to the left side and push through a section of thick growth and to a put in below a little rapids. The creek is navigable from here but there are a number of dams to negotiate before you arrive in Robinson.
Jackfish 06/12/2018 11:03PM
As I look at the map, I see that Ted runs NW to SE. If one were to continue straight out the east end of Ted, there is a 25 rod portage into what appears to be an unnamed lake. After continuing southeasterly in this unnamed lake, there is a stream that is going to (or coming from) Robinson. Does anyone know which way the water is flowing and if it is navigable going east?