The last time through this area we left Brent and headed back towards PP by going through Cone, Elk, Gardner B. then east through Bart Robinson etc. We are wanting to change it up a bit and are wanting to head east from Elk to Hurn and Ted. What I was wondering was if you could get from the southern tip of Ted to the no name and down the stream to Robinson.The Chrismar map shows a 150m portage to the no name but I wasn't sure if the stream was navigable or not. If not what is the best way out of there? What can you tell me about Hurn and Ted?

A few people have done that route, not myself yet. The stream is not navigable. Hopefully another that has done it will chime in.

Hurn to Ted I remember as being rocky nothing special, not easy, not super hard.

If my memory serves me, I think HoHo has been through there in the past couple years. --Goose

Ho Ho and I did it in may 12, Ho Ho and David did it again in July of last year. Just a long slow walk through the woods without a trail but with the sound and sight of a tumbling brook to keep you on course. It is about a mile. I've done it four times I think. I prefer the right side of the creek (Ted to Robinson direction) but you should cross the creek after the washed out beaver ponds.

Route through Hurn and Elk is easy and straightforward. Route through Milt and the Newts is a little trickier (harder to find the Newt portages) but not terrible. The entry to Gardner can be a bear in low water.

Visited Ted four times last year; one of my favorites.

I did it last year. I found it a bit harder to do than Banksiana.
I tried walking on both sides of the stream but it was pretty rough on both banks. It's not impossibe to do and since you're following the stream, you can't get lost but there is no trail whatsoever.

If you're a tough woodsman and in good shape, you'll be able to do it. It takes about 45 minutes each way.

Two items of interest I found along the way: I found the remains of an old cooler and also a wolf skull. I think I got a good case of poison ivy along the way but I'm not sure if this was where I picked it up. I ended up at urgent care after I got back. Here's a picture of the stream and It looks more open than it is.

Banks and Tumble sum it up. It's definitely doable and is good for a change-up from the other route. Ted and Robinson are both great lakes, so it's nice to go this way. And even though it is a "bushwhack" portage, it is is definitely the fastest way from Ted to Robinson. As an added benefit, the unnamed lake in between (aka "Little Ted") is an attractive little lake to paddle down.

I would say that I am glad I did it the first time with Banks, who had done it before. Then the second time, I was the experienced one, leading David and Piwi our dog (if you have a dog along, she will love this). Both times we came upon the cooler Tumble mentioned, btw. There are definitely vestiges of an old trail on that part of the route, but whether it was a real portage at one time, or has always just been a user-created path, I don't know.

If you do it, you will find a big beaver dam type tumble of logs at the south end of Little Ted, where you can pull up your canoe. The area here at the beginning is the roughest, at least on the right side of the creek, you have to bushwhack uphill a bit to get around some windfalls, but soon you can head down to flatter land closer to the creek, which guides you to Robinson. If you are double portaging, break it up into small manageable stages so that you have no trouble finding your gear as you go back and forth. This has not proven a problem on either trip across for me.

Just watch out when you grasp downed balsams and the like as you bushwhack through - there might be yellow jackets nesting there. Ouch, that hurt!

I wonder if it is the same old white "disposable" cooler that I have seen on that so-called portage at least 15 years ago, 9 years ago or so and once more two years ago. I have often wondered why it was there. When we first saw it we found various and sundry other items strewn along the route. It actually unnerved us and we wondered aloud if we would find a skeleton next.
We have always referred to that route as the "Heart of Darkness" portage.

Granitecliffs,

Yup, that's the same one by the sounds of it. I remember a few items strewn about next to it. There was a plastic orange juice container and some other non-biodegradable items nearby.

Since it sounds like this cooler has become a bit of a curiosity to those that dare make the voyage: I remember it being on the South/west side of the stream and closer to Robinson.

When I found it I wondered how it ever got that far into the woods and who the inexperienced campers were to bother to bring it with in the first place.

"White Cooler Portage"

quote bojibob: ""White Cooler Portage""

I like it Boji. We can't use Raspberry portage since that one's already taken :)

Thanks for all the info guys. It looks challenging but doable.We haven't finalized that section of the trip yet but I think we'd like to try it.

I like the name "White Cooler Portage" too.

And I have also wondered about how it got to be there. The scenario I imagined is this: Old-school paddlers from Ely, who don't care about permits, paddle in via the Horse to do some early-season fishing on Robinson. They say "Hey let's go up to Ted to get Lakers." They head that way, find it isn't so easy, drink all the cans of beer in their cooler instead, and head back to their Robinson site, leaving the cooler behind because the beers are now gone.

What do you think?

Nope. Three young kids from the Twin Cities make it to Robinson in three days of paddling and portaging, carrying 6 cases of beer. They decide to take the Old White Cooler Portage. Actually they thought it was MacIntyre Creek but that is another story. They get a quarter of the way across the portage when the deer flies just let them have it, followed by a swarm of mosquitoes. They are hung over and their nerves are frayed from over exertion. They begin to fight with each other after consuming the last of the Robinson Lake water cooled beer.
Sadly one young lad whacks one of his now former pals over the head with a paddle. The stricken young man falls, hitting his head on some exposed granite rocks and dies on the spot. Lads one and two drag his body well off the trail to avoid detection and high-tail it back to Mudro in about 8 hours flat.
The next time you take the White Cooler Portage stop at the cooler and smell the air. I swear the first time we saw that cooler years ago we could smell the stench of death in the air. Yep, we named it the Heart of Darkness Portage for a reason!

Interesting scenerios.

I was alone on the White Cooler Portage last year. The air was hot and heavy, and the bugs stuck to the sweat on my arms. The abundance of DEET made for a sticky mess, and it stung my eyes.

When I stumbled on the cooler I stopped and wondered how it got to such a place, so far away. My thought was this:

4 or 5 guys from the cities, all overweight and inexperienced were in a place they shouldn't be. With their inexperience and wreckless nature, they thought they could make it out of Robinson and do a shortcut up to Ted.

With their nylon webbed aluminum camp chairs and a cooler of OJ, Busch Light, and plastic tubs of warm potato salad, they tried to bushwhack up the creek. The slowest and most out of shape guy in the group had two chairs slung over one shoulder and was shlepping the cooler in both arms. After falling several times and getting the chairs hung up on every branch that came his way, he tripped for the last time and sent the cooler flying out of his arms.

And there it lay with the contents strewn about. Since he was so far behind, and the potato salad was already rancid, he left it all and tried to catch up. And there the cooler lays today just as it was left.

As Kurtz dies, Marlow hears him weakly whisper: “The horror! The horror of hijacked threads!" =) --Goose

quote tumblehome: "Interesting scenerios.


I was alone on the White Cooler Portage last year. The air was hot and heavy, and the bugs stuck to the sweat on my arms. The abundance of DEET made for a sticky mess, and it stung my eyes.


When I stumbled on the cooler I stopped and wondered how it got to such a place, so far away. My thought was this:


4 or 5 guys from the cities, all overweight and inexperienced were in a place they shouldn't be. With their inexperience and wreckless nature, they thought they could make it out of Robinson and do a shortcut up to Ted.


With their nylon webbed aluminum camp chairs and a cooler of OJ, Busch Light, and plastic tubs of warm potato salad, they tried to bushwhack up the creek. The slowest and most out of shape guy in the group had two chairs slung over one shoulder and was shlepping the cooler in both arms. After falling several times and getting the chairs hung up on every branch that came his way, he tripped for the last time and sent the cooler flying out of his arms.


And there it lay with the contents strewn about. Since he was so far behind, and the potato salad was already rancid, he left it all and tried to catch up. And there the cooler lays today just as it was left.
"

What? Nobody died? Disappeared? Buried on the portage?

GraniteCliffs,

They all got food poisoning from the potato salad and died on Ted :)

quote tumblehome: "GraniteCliffs,


They all got food poisoning from the potato salad and died on Ted :)"

William Kent Krueger and I are very pleased with this development. Thanks, I can sleep tonight!

You guys are cracking me up!

I am very happy. My next trip has an agreed upon plan that includes a return to the White Cooler Portage once again. Normally I am inclined to pick up and pack out trash that I stumble upon. In this case there is no doubt I am going to leave whatever I find right where it has been all of these years. We could hardly have a White Cooler Portage without the presence of a white cooler now could we?

quote GraniteCliffs: "I am very happy. My next trip has an agreed upon plan that includes a return to the White Cooler Portage once again. Normally I am inclined to pick up and pack out trash that I stumble upon. In this case there is no doubt I am going to leave whatever I find right where it has been all of these years. We could hardly have a White Cooler Portage without the presence of a white cooler now could we? "

Oh please take a picture of the infamous cooler and post it. This is just too much fun for a bunch of adult men to get excited about a cooler in the woods! If I sound cynical, I'm not, but rather am serious.

Houston, we have a problem.
The White Cooler Portage.
I traveled it again last week. I am happy to report the cooler is still on the White Cooler Portage.
Unfortunately, the white cooler is orange. OK, it has a white top but the body is orange. A picture will be forthcoming.
The Orange and White Cooler Portage just does not cut it.
We have reverted back to our name of 20 some years ago:
The Heart of Darkness Portage.

Well crap.............


White top cooler portage?

Nah.

I bet that was a fun hunt though!

A picture of the old "White" Cooler taken earlier this year.