A 20-year-old college student tragically died in front of her father after she slipped off the Half Dome of Yosemite National Park earlier this month.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Grace Rohloff and her father Jonathan successfully reached the top of the Half Dome on July 13. Grace notably had hiked thousands of miles before doing the Half Dome hike.
The famous hike at Yosemite National Park is close to 16 miles.
However, things took a turn on the trip when a storm appeared and caused the father-daughter duo’s descent to become deadly. Grace unfortunately slipped, slid, and tumbled down the mountain. Her father couldn’t do anything but watch as his “fearless” daughter died after falling 200 to 300 feet and hitting her head on a rock.
“It all happened so fast,” Jonathan explained about Grace’s fall. “I thought there was a possibility that she was still alive.”
Although Jonathan was hopeful that Grace somehow managed to survive the fall, the Mariposa County Office revealed she died, with a head fracture being the cause.
A spokesperson for Yosemite National Park stated the case remains under investigation.
Her Father Said a Black Cloud Rolled in Like ‘Gangbusters’ During the Yosemite National Park Hike
While speaking to SFGate, Grace’s father recalled the storm that contributed to her death at Yosemite National Park.
“A black cloud was rolling in like gangbusters,” Jonathan shared. “I was like, ‘We have got to get down now, because we don’t want to be up here with any rain. It rolled in literally out of nowhere.’”
Jonathan then said that while he and Grace could have bounded down the rockface to avoid descending in the rain, there were people in front of them who were proceeding slowly and cautiously. The father-daughter duo didn’t want to be impolite by passing them. Both parties ended up being trapped on the cables in the downpour.
Jonathan also said that as the storm continued, the granite became incredibly slick. The hikers in front of them started slipping and sliding. He said that while Grace had a new part of hiking shoes on, they didn’t have great traction.
“Dad, my shoes are so slippery,” he recalled her saying. He further explained that he tried to calm her by saying, “OK, let’s do one step at a time.”
Jonathan said that about three-quarters of the way down the cables, Grace’s feet went out from under her. She slid off to the side right by him down the mountain.
He descended down the cable as quickly as he could, thinking when he got to her, she would still be alive. “I just wanted to get my daughter,” Jonathan noted. Unfortunately, he was unable to reach her.
After calling 9-1-1 himself, Jonathan continued to call out for his daughter until help arrived. But it was too late.