Daughter, 20, Told Dad She Loved Him Minutes Before She Fell to Her Death from Yosemite's Half Dome

The Arizona college student who died after slipping down the Half Dome in Yosemite National Park on Saturday, July 13, had celebrated reaching the summit with her father just moments before her death.

Grace Rohloff, 20, was hiking the popular peak with her father Jonathan when a sudden rainstorm rolled through as they were descending down with the cables, and the young woman fell to her death. 

In an interview with SFGate, her father said that Grace was smiling after they arrived at the summit and told him that she loved him.

“She told me it was something that was on her bucket list that she always wanted to do, and she was so happy about it," he added while speaking with NBC affiliate KPNX, noting that the pair had plenty of experience and had hiked together for "thousands of miles" at that point.

But just moments later, everything would change.

“There’s no way ten minutes before, when she was up there smiling ear to ear, that I thought I only had 10 minutes left with her," he told KPNX. "It was a tragedy."

Jonathan told SFGate said that once they reached the summit they heard a "loud thunderclap” and knew they had to start getting down immediately.

He noted that Grace was wearing new hiking shoes for the occasion, and as they descended, she alerted him that the shoes were not getting good traction on the trail. Then, before he knew what was happening, she slipped from his reach and slid outside -

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the boundary of the cables down the face of the mountain, according toFox affiliate KMPH-TV.

“It just happened very fast," Jonathan told KPNX.

Although he initially hoped his daughter had survived, she did not, and he later learned that Grace likely died from hitting her head on a rock, per the outlet.

The Mariposa County Coroner’s Office told SFGate that Grace died from a head fracture.

“That was at least comforting,” he told the outlet. “If she was gone, that she didn’t have to suffer.”

Jonathan is remembering his daughter as a "fearless" adventurer.

“She brightened up every room she was in. She was an amazing human being," he told KPNX. "And you know her spirit still surrounds me."

Now, he’s hoping to work with the national park to save lives in the future. Since 1948, 15 people have died on the Half Dome tip and cables, per SFGate, which also reported that since 2006, at least six people died while stuck in rainstorms on the summit.

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PEOPLE has reached out to the National Park Service for comment.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, July 27 at Trinity Lutheran Church and School in Litchfield Park, Ariz.

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