The Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that the body of 38 year old Grant Gardner was found on the northern route of Cloud Peak on August 26, 2025.
Gardner, a hiker from Minnesota, disappeared after texting his wife on the evening of July 29, saying he had made it to the top of Cloud Peak. Phone records indicate Gardner reached Cloud Peak Summit around 9:00pm, and was then preparing to head to a lower elevation for the night.
On August 1, 2025, the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office began a search and rescue operation in the area.
“While it’s not the outcome we hoped for, we are hopeful this will provide much-needed peace and closure to the family,” Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn told Cowboy State Daily. “We want to thank everybody and our community for their prayers and thoughts on behalf of the family.”
“The case has been transferred to the Big Horn County Coroner’s Office to determine time, manner and cause of death. This transition is routine per State Statute guidelines. Nothing should be read into this transition. We believe Gardner succumbed to a tragic accident as we all have surmised,” a press release from the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office states.
The Disappearance of Grant Gardner
Grant Gardner lives in Lakeville, Minnesota with his wife and two children, ages 11 and 13. He’s an experienced outdoorsman, and has been hiking for over a decade.
He disappeared while on a hike in Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming. The forest is over 1 million acres, with 191,000 acres dedicated to the Cloud Peak Wilderness area.
He started his hike at the West Ten Sleep trailhead, and ended up at the top of Cloud Peak, the tallest mountain in the Bighorn Range. The hike, which he planned to take 3 days, is a 22 mile round trip.
Disappearance
Around 7:00 pm on July 29, 2025, Grant Gardner texted his wife, stating that he had made it to the top of Cloud Peak, located in the Cloud Peak Wilderness area in Big Horn County, Wyoming.
The text to his wife indicated that the climb was more difficult than he expected, and that he was tired. Grant hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
On August 1, 2025, the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office began a search and rescue operation in the area.
Investigation
Phone records indicate Gardner reached Cloud Peak Summit around 9:00pm on July 29, 2025. He was then preparing to head to a lower elevation for the night.
The late hour was concerning to officials due to the “lack of visible trails through cliffs, timber line, boulder fields and other hazards.”
Gardner’s vehicle was found by searchers in the parking lot of the West Ten Sleep trailhead where he began his journey. He recorded his entry into the wilderness area in the hiking log at that trailhead.
Officials have conducted extensive searches with the help of K9 units, helicopters, drones, and radar equipment, but no further clues as to his whereabouts have been found.
‘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 Big Horn County Wyoming Sheriff’s Office stated in a release.
“Grant is a very skilled person. He knows what he’s doing. He’s been doing this for years. This is nothing new to Grant. Grant, we’re talking about a guy who every winter for his birthday in Minnesota camps, solo by himself,” family friend Elaina Weiers told FOX9.
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