The final text message sent by a missing hiker who was found dead has been revealed by authorities.
Grant Gardner, 38, was found unresponsive underneath a ledge close to the summit of Cloud Peak in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains after a month-long search.
Mr Gardner went missing on July 29 after setting out on a three-day hike through the Misty Moon lake area.
The Bighorn County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the 38-year-old's body was discovered by a professional climbing team from North Carolina.
Grant Gardner, 38, was found unresponsive underneath a ledge close to the summit of Cloud Peak in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains
|GETTY
The climbing group uncovered the body after summitting the 13,000-foot Cloud Peak and spotted "a slight reflection a few hundred feet above them underneath a ledge" as they were setting up a high-altitude camp.
At first glance, the team believed it to be a backpack and informed the sheriff's office by satellite phone.
Rescuers arrived at the location, where they found Mr Gardner's remains close to the backpack noticed by the climbing team.
The sheriff's office said: "While it's not the outcome we hoped for, we are hopeful this will provide much needed peace and closure to the family."
The Bighorn County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the 38-year-old's body was discovered by a professional climbing team from North Carolina
|BIG HORN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
Phone records revealed that the 38-year-old had sent a final message to his wife before his disappearance on July 29, "letting her know he'd made it to the summit," according to the sheriff's office.
The authorities suggested "the climb was more taxing than he expected and he was tired".
In the aftermath of Mr Gardner's disappearance, search and rescue teams, volunteers and the sheriff's office searched the mountain range relentlessly in a bid to find the hiker.
Mr Gardner leaves behind a wife and two children, aged 11 and 13.
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In the aftermath of Mr Gardner's vanishing, search and rescue teams, volunteers and the sheriff's office searched the mountain range relentlessly
|BIGHORN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
His partner, Lauren, told Cowboy State Daily that her husband was a veteran hiker of almost a decade and enjoyed going on trips on his own.
She told the outlet: "It’s all definitely surreal 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 sheriff's office said: "We believe Gardner succumbed to a tragic accident as we all have surmised.
"Special thanks to a spectacular professional group of technical climbers who were in exactly the right spot, at the right moment, with the right light, to notice a small piece of fabric on a pack that was otherwise undetectable, for selflessly aborting their plans and working with SAR Teams to find Gardner, providing closure to his family."
According to records obtained by the New York Post, at least 1,180 people were reported missing from national parks in the US between 2018 and 2023.
Research by National Geographic showed that 41 per cent of survivors got lost after straying away from designated routes.