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Frazier Tear lugs 52 pounds of gear up Teton Canyon to the top of Teton Creek last week for a subsequent descent with friends Austin Rathman and Eric Parker. The three were only the second known party to kayak the upper section of the creek. PHOTO COURTESY AUSTIN RATHMAN

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The hard part is the five-mile uphill hike while toting a kayak filled with 50 pounds of gear.

The descent is the historic part.

That’s exactly what Jackson kayakers Austin Rathman, Frazer Tear and Eric Parker achieved last week when they became the second known group to descend Teton Creek above the Teton Canyon upper parking lot.

The team successfully navigated intense Class V rapids while kayaking the final two-and-a-half miles of the creek.

The first known decent of the raging creek was completed several years ago by Rathman, a 2003 Jackson Hole High School graduate, and Brady Johnston, a valley resident.

“That was definitely something that intrigued me about it,” said Parker, who will be a senior at Jackson Hole High School this fall. “The fact that only one group of people has been up there was intriguing for sure.”

The group first talked about going on the adventure last month during a camping trip in Big Timber, Mont. While sitting around a campfire, Rathman told Frazer and Parker about his experience down Teton Creek. Rathman promised to take them there one day.

“It seemed like something we wouldn’t do for a few years,” Parker said. “But then we did it.”

They began their hike from the Teton Canyon trailhead off Ski Hill Road outside Alta, Wyo., on the west slope of the Teton Range. Their gear was packed into their kayaks, which were fitted with foam noodles where they rested against their back. The hikers’  heads were nearly inside the kayak as they hiked.

“It was pretty hard,” Tear said. “My boat weighed 52 pounds with all my gear in it. It was heavy. Kayaks are super awkward to carry. There’s no good way to do it.”

The group was already fatigued after the three-hour hike to the top of the creek.

“It was a really big hike,” Parker said. “It was steep at points.”

The team was greeted with raging waters near the top.

“We got there and it was some of the hardest Class V water I’ve ever seen,” Parker said. “It was cool to see it. It was also pretty intimidating. It was pretty scary.”

Most of the upper runs were too dangerous for the team to run, with log jams filling many of the descents.

“We got up to the steep stuff and ran what we could,” Rathman said. “There’s some supersteep sections. We walked around those.”

As a safety precaution, the team hiked downstream and put in at a safer point.

“We decided to walk down to a mellower section,” Tear said.

By mellow, of course, Tear means Class IV and V rapids. The group ran the final two to three miles without much of a break.

“When we first put it, there was 100 yards of continuous rapids,” Parker said. “I was nervous. I was definitely afraid of not being able to get out.”

They did, but not before taking several safety precautions.

“If there was a horizon line or sharp corner, we’d stop and eddy over,” Parker said. “Austin would hop out and check if everything was good to go.”

It was an experience they won’t soon forget.

“I really enjoyed it,” Tear said. “I’d never done a big hike and kayak trip before. I usually go with people who know the run well. This one is different; you don’t know what’s around the corner.

“Even though the hiking was hard, you gain a different respect for the sport when you have to hike the stuff up rather than just put in,” he said. “It makes you feel like you earned it.”

Rathman took pride in sharing the descent of Teton Creek with his friends.

“I think it opened their eyes up a little bit in what’s out there in the world of kayaking,” he said. “Some of it they liked, and some they didn’t. It’s a scary creek up top. There’s nowhere to stop. A lot of times you’re running rapids and stopping by pulling into a small eddy or going to shore and grabbing onto whatever you can. It’s not real clean, friendly boating.”

Just buzz-enducing excitement.

“It was definitely a big thrill,” Rathman said.