Support truly
independent journalism
An Arizona State University student slipped and fell to her death after she and her father got caught in a sudden storm while hiking in Yosemite National Park.
Grace Rohloff, 20, lost her footing on July 13 while she and her father, Jonathan Rohloff, were hiking the park’s Half Dome cables, her father told SFGate.
“Grace was such a beautiful soul,” Rohloff told the outlet. “She deserves to have her story told.”
The Arizona-based father-daughter duo were experienced climbers, and were thrilled when they learned on July 11 that they had obtained a permit to hike Half Dome. Grace was especially excited, telling her dad that climbing the famous slope was on her bucket list.
The next day, the Rohloffs drove from Phoenix to Yosemite before making the 400-foot trek up the cables on their assigned date. When they set out, a ranger had warned of a chance of storms later in the day.
But when they reached the starting point of the cables, they were met with clear skies, the outlet reported. The Rohloffs ascended to the top of Half Dome, allowing Grace to check the adventure off her bucket list.
But the clap of thunder interrupted the impressive feat.
“A black cloud was rolling in like gangbusters,” Rohloff told SFGate. “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.’”
The hikers ahead of them on their descent down the cables were moving slowly, he said. Though he and his daughter were experienced climbers who could have passed the others, Rohloff explained they opted against it to avoid coming across as rude.
So, they were stuck on the cables as rain pelted them and the mountain, making it slippery.
Grace quickly learned that her new pair of hiking boots weren’t offering the traction they had promised.
“Dad, my shoes are so slippery,” Rohloff recalled his daughter telling him. Trying to keep them both calm, he replied: “OK, let’s do one step at a time.”
The father-daughter duo had nearly reached the end of the cables when tragedy struck.
“She just slid off to the side, right by me, down the mountain,” Rohloff said. “It happened so fast. I tried to reach my hand up, but she was already gone.”
The shocked father then moved down the cables as quickly as possible, looking down in hope that Grace had survived the drop some 200 feet. “I just wanted to get my daughter,” he told the outlet.
He called 911 before calling for his daughter: “Grace, I’m here. I’m not going to leave you. If you can hear my voice, give me a sign. I love you.” But no voice returned.
Rohloff then fell to his knees and started to pray — and was joined by others who asked to pray with him.
A fellow hiker recounted the devastating moment.
“It was one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever seen,” Erin McGlynn, 22, told the outlet. “But it was also one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen. He was able to compose himself, just in case he could provide any comfort to her. He did everything he possibly could have.”
For three hours, a park ranger stayed with Rohloff waiting for a helicopter to rescue Grace. As they waited, the weather worsened.
The wind whipped as rain turned into hail, he told the outlet.
The ranger stayed with him when he learned that his daughter didn’t survive the fall and accompanied him on the hike down the mountain.
“I know that’s her job, but [the ranger] went way above and beyond to make a human connection with me,” he said.
Rohloff later learned that Grace had suffered a severe head fracture and probably died during the fall.
“That was at least comforting,” the grieving father said. “If she was gone, that she didn’t have to suffer.”
A celebration of life for Grace will be held on July 27, according to a Facebook post.
“She was fearless. She was an adventurer. We did hikes all throughout Arizona. Grace and I put on thousands of miles hiking,” Rohloff told KARE11.
He told the outlet that he hopes her death will prompt park officials to make the cables safer. The Independent has emailed park officials for comment.
“If we can make the cabling system at Yosemite a lot safer for people to see that beautiful piece of God’s earth and not be put in danger then that would be something that she would have wanted,” Rohloff said.
