Injured Horse Riders Air Lifted From Bighorn Mountains

On August 11, 2024, at 3:49 pm, the Big Horn County Wyoming Sheriff’s department received a call from the Garmin Inreach dispatch center with a report of two individuals who had fallen from horses above Lily Lake on the trail to the Cloud Peak Wilderness.

Both individuals were reported to be injured with possible broken bones.

Big Horn County Search and Rescue was paged out and responded with ground teams to the Lily Lake Trailhead and began hiking to the coordinates.

Guardian Air Medical was available and dispatched helicopters from both the Cody and Riverton locations to the scene.

Both aircraft were able to land close enough to the patient location for the flight crews to reach the injured subjects.

SAR teams were able to hike into the vicinity just as the aircraft were leaving the scene.

Because there is always the chance that aircraft are unable to land close enough to the patient or weather may prevent them from landing, ground teams always respond until the patients are safely off the ground and enroute to a hospital.

All teams were off of the mountain and the mission was complete by 9:00 pm.