Sister of fallen hiker raises $5,600 for Big Horn County Search and Rescue

Almost a year ago, many of us became deeply invested in the story of Grant Gardner, a Minnesota man who disappeared while hiking in the Cloud Peak Wilderness Area of the Bighorn Mountains.

Gardner, 38, of Minnesota, disappeared July 29, 2025 after hiking to the summit of Cloud Peak, the highest point in the Bighorn Mountains. According to the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office, Gardner contacted his wife around 7 p.m. to report that he had reached the summit. Authorities later became concerned, because the late hour meant he would have been descending dangerous terrain in darkness, including cliffs, boulder fields and steep alpine slopes made even more treacherous by weather conditions.

What followed became one of the largest and most difficult search operations in recent Big Horn County history.

Big Horn County Search and Rescue Incident Commander Jeff Schmidt said the mission pushed volunteers to their limits.

“Our team at Big Horn County Search and Rescue went above and beyond during the search for Grant Gardner, with some staying multiple days on the mountain to help keep the search going,” Schmidt said. “Our team searched tirelessly and continued showing up during the initial search and later as more clues came in, including the recovery after Grant was found.”

Since then, Gardner’s sister, Heather Widness, has kept Grant’s memory alive by raising money for the Search and Rescue teams that worked tirelessly to find him and by honoring the kindness and compassion they showed her family during those difficult days of uncertainty.

Heather recalled the events of last summer.

“My brother, Justin Gardner, called me the morning of August 1 to say that Grant had been reported missing the day before in Big Horn (County), Wyoming,” Widness said. “Justin still seemed quite calm about the situation so we were very hopeful that he had just gotten off trail and would be found soon.”

But as the hours passed and no word came, hope slowly gave way to dread.

“When they still hadn’t found him by that evening, we decided to both fly out and be on the ground to help in any way possible,” Widness said.

Within hours, the siblings were racing toward Wyoming from opposite sides of the country. Justin flew from California. Heather flew from Georgia. They met in Denver and began the long overnight drive north into unfamiliar country, heading toward the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office and the rugged mountains where Grant had vanished.

“When we arrived, they gave us a briefing on what was happening and we knew immediately the severity of the situation,” she said. “Neither of us had ever been to the area, but after seeing pictures of the summit and hearing about the weather situation on the night Grant summited we knew that there was a big chance that he may have died of a fall or exposure.”

Over nearly three weeks, searchers fought brutal terrain, high elevations and rapidly changing mountain weather while trying to locate Gardner. Big Horn County Search and Rescue volunteers logged an estimated 1,023 man-hours during the effort. Additional help came from volunteer pilots and search crews from Sheridan, Johnson, Washakie, Park and Teton counties, along with other organizations.

Former Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn said those kinds of missions create lasting emotional bonds between rescuers and families.

“Search and Rescue, particularly in rural Wyoming, becomes very familiar with the people that they rescue through our understanding of the lost person, behavior and interactions with the family,” Blackburn said. “We develop very, very close bonds to a lot of the people and families that we work with throughout our rescues. We will forever be linked emotionally with the Gardner family for the month that we came together last August.”

For Heather and her family, those volunteers quickly became far more than strangers.

“The Search and Rescue team was beyond amazing, especially Jeff Schmidt and Ken Blackburn,” she said. “They did everything they could to try to find Grant and to keep us informed about the entire process along the way.”

During those long days, Heather and Justin spent time at the trailhead where Grant’s vehicle remained parked, handing out flyers to hikers heading into the wilderness and waiting anxiously for updates from search crews.

In an interview at the time, Schmidt spoke about the difficulties of conducting rescues in the rugged terrain of the Big Horn Mountains and the need for helicopter assistance.

“In the Bighorns, most of our missions are miles from a trailhead, often above treeline,” Schmidt said. “Hoist capability saves hundreds of man-hours and, more importantly, valuable time for the patient.”

Eventually, the siblings realized there was little they could physically do to help the search effort.

“We realized after a few days that the sheriff’s department was doing their best to keep us busy but that there really wasn’t anything we could do on the ground and decided it would be more helpful to the team searching for Grant if we returned home,” Widness said.

Still, the compassion shown by local volunteers never stopped.

She recalled that Schmidt even offered to take the family up in a helicopter so they could better understand the immense terrain crews were covering.

“Jeff Schmidt even offered to take us up in the search helicopter to give us a better understanding of the terrain and the amount of ground they had to cover to search for Grant,” she said. “The weather didn’t cooperate, so we did not go up but it just showed us how much they wanted to keep us a part of the effort.”

The emotional bonds formed quickly.

“They all worked themselves to exhaustion to try to find my brother and my family was so very grateful,” Widness said. “They communicated every step of the process, showed kindness and compassion even though they had just met us and handled the communication with the media with grace.”

Leaving Wyoming without answers was devastating.

“The day we had to leave to drive back to Denver was so hard,” she said. “Even though we had only been there a few days they felt like our friends. We hugged and cried with them.”

Even after the family returned home, the communication continued.

“After we got home, Ken Blackburn continued to give us daily calls and texts so we could keep our parents and Lauren (Garner, Grant’s wife,) informed,” Widness said. “It was beyond what they had to do.”

Eventually, Gardner’s remains were located after a professional climbing group from North Carolina spotted what appeared to be a backpack beneath a ledge while descending the mountain. Search and Rescue volunteers then returned to assist with recovery operations.

Blackburn said the emotional cost of searches like this affects everyone involved.

“This is a classic example of the heavy price search and rescue, law enforcement, all first responders and families pay when loved ones are in a crisis,” Blackburn said. “Many scars take time to heal for families and first responders of all disciplines.”

For Heather, the months after her brother’s death became filled with grief, exhaustion and the challenge of learning how to move forward.

“The first few months after they found Grant were so hard for me,” she said. “He’s my baby brother and we were very close.”

The siblings had planned something special together before Grant’s death. “He had planned to run the Atlanta Marathon with me this year and when he died, I thought about just not running it,” Widness said.

“Running is a real joy for me and a way that I decompress and process hard days and big feelings,” she said.

So she decided not only to run, but to turn the marathon into something meaningful.

“I decided to run it without him and raise money to give back to the team so they could continue their efforts and could continue to be there for other nature lovers like Grant that may need their help,” Widness said.

Training was not easy.

“There were many days when I felt too tired or sad to run but I did it anyway knowing that I didn’t want to let down my brother or any of my friends or family who gave money to this cause,” she said.

By race day, the marathon had become about much more than miles or finishing times.

“Running the race was extremely emotional for me,” Widness said. “My husband ran the half marathon and was waiting for me at the finish line.”

Her fundraiser ultimately raised approximately $5,600 for the Big Horn County Search and Rescue Foundation, which recently became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization supporting equipment, training and operational expenses for the volunteer-based organization.

Schmidt said the donation meant a great deal to the volunteers who spent weeks searching for Gardner.

“We are so grateful for the effort that Heather, Grant’s sister, put in to raise money for our team after losing her brother,” Schmidt said. “The mission has had, and will continue to have, an impact on our team each year as we continue to work in the mountains to rescue others who come to recreate in this beautiful place.”

Blackburn said the fundraiser reflects both the family’s love for Grant and the dedication of the volunteers who searched for him.

“I think Heather should be recognized for her love of running and for the efforts and sacrifices she made on behalf of her brother,” Blackburn said.

“We honor the Gardner family for their sacrifices, and this money will be put to good use by a group of true volunteers,” he added. “Big Horn County Search and Rescue and the sheriff’s department are among the best of the best in the business.”

Widness said she hopes the fundraiser honors both her brother’s love of the outdoors and the volunteers who refused to stop searching for him.

“I am raising money to support the Bighorn Search and Rescue — the same team that never gave up hope of finding my brother and who willingly put their own lives at risk in the process,” she wrote in her fundraiser.

For many involved, the donation represents something deeper than money.

In the lonely uncertainty of a mountain search, amid helicopters, storm clouds and impossible terrain, a grieving family found compassion from strangers in Wyoming. And months later, one sister laced up her running shoes and carried that gratitude all the way to the finish line.

Donations can be made at www.bighorncountysearchandrescue.org/