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.” 

The search for Grant Gardner has included the use of helicopters. (Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office)

“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. 

Grant Gardner’s wife Lauren told Cowboy State Daily “he’s been hiking for over a decade.” (Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office)

“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.