Minnesota hiker vanishes in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains, leaving wife ‘trying to stay strong’ for their kids

A Minnesota hiker has now been missing for more than a week after disappearing in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains, with his wife saying that she is “trying to stay strong for the kids.” 

Grant Gardner made contact with his wife on July 29 “letting her know he’d made it to the summit” of the 13,000-foot Cloud Peak, but has not been heard from since, according to the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office. The agency launched a search and rescue operation in what it described as “extreme and very challenging” conditions. 

“He solo hikes, and he’s been hiking for over a decade,” his wife Lauren Gardner told Cowboy State Daily. “He’s used to this stuff, and he’s very detail oriented.” 

“It’s all definitely surreal,” she reportedly added. “And I’m in shock, I think, and trying to stay strong for the kids. This has never happened in all the years he’s gone out. He knows what he’s doing and has the skills. I’m just hoping right now.” 

HIKER DISAPPEARS FROM ‘EDGE OF THE WORLD’ CAMPGROUND ON TRIP WITH FATHER 

The missing 38-year-old is a father of two children, ages 13 and 11, the outlet reported. 

The Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office said Gardner had planned an approximate 3-day hike “through the Misty Moon Lake area, eventually summiting Cloud Peak, and returning to his vehicle completing his journey.” 

Phone records show he reached the summit of Cloud Peak around 7 p.m. on July 29 and sent a text to his wife indicating that “the climb was more taxing than he expected and he was tired,” according to authorities. 

“The late summit of 7:00pm at 13,000 feet was and is concerning due to the lack of visible trails through cliffs, timber line, boulder fields, and other hazards that had to be navigated after dark before reaching clear trails and safe terrain,” Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn said. 

Police said Gardner’s vehicle later was found by searchers in the same parking lot where he began his trip. 

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“The search is rapidly evolving and ongoing in the Cloud Peak Wilderness area. In addition to high altitude and terrain challenges, difficult weather patterns including winds, thunder and lightning storms have made search efforts difficult at various times of the day,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a search update this week. 

“Search and rescue teams from South Big Horn County, Sheridan County, Johnson County, Washakie County, and Park County Wyoming along with other rotor aircraft from First Flight of Wyoming, Wyoming Army National Guard, and private aircraft” are assisting in the effort, they also said. 

“The Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office is requesting anyone who may have had contact with Gardner, please report to the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office at 307-568-2324 or the Wyoming Missing Person Tip line on the Wyoming DCI website,” police said.