Our Rim to Rim Journey

The Baton Pass Executive Team (Kelly, Danielle, Whitney and Angela) trained all summer to hike in Sedona so no woman ever has to walk through the valley alone. Even though it was a crazy long journey to get there, we conquered Cathedral Rock and Wilson Mountain Canyon Trail so we could raise funds and awareness for women walking through life’s toughest valleys.  Here is our detailed journey of how God got us there.

How We Got Here… Month by Month: 

• August 11, 2024 - Kelly invited our team to consider training for Rim-to-Rim next Fall with the theme of “No one walks through the valley alone”.

• September, 2024 -  Training plans are researched. 

• October - November 2024- The Baton Pass hosts three large events in Chicagoland, Central IL, and in the Phoenix Valley centered around the theme of “Brave Enough”.

• December 2024- As a team we purchase or ask for hiking boots and trail runners for Christmas presents!  The team commits to raising money during this process to benefit the Baton Pass Scholarship Fund.

• January 2025- More focused training begins- prepping for the 24 miles through the Grand Canyon.  

• February 2025- We attend our Baton Pass retreat in Wisconsin.  Pray over fundraising.  We set our alarms on our phones to go off at 2:00 pm every day to pray for funds to sustain and grow The Baton Pass.  We connect with Jessica - who completed Rim-2-Rim; she passes the baton to us with packing lists, training tips, and support.

• March 2025- This marks the 6-month training mark.  Cycling, weight lifting, swimming, walking, running, and lots of stair stepping!

• April 2025- The Baton Pass hosts three more large events centered around the theme of “Illuminate”.  

• May 2025- Training is really picking up.  Danielle has a family vacation in Cancun, and returns with a painful foot injury.  The hotel doctor told her she was “ok”, but it is, in fact, her 5th metatarsal is a misaligned fracture and requires surgery. 

• June 2025- Danielle pivots- focuses on resting and recuperating; the rest of the team increases training intensity.

• July 4, 2025- North Mountain burned in the Grand Canyon and the Rim-2-Rim trek is closed until 2026.  Our team pivots and commits to finding another trail to hike.

• August 2025- Two months away; Danielle can train again, and things seem to be working out.  Then Whitney experiences a serious poison ivy breakout one day after the “Better Together” Central Illinois Baton Pass fundraising event.  Her training halts with a month-long recovery after rounds of steroids.

• September 2025-  Plane tickets are purchased and Wilson Mountain Trail in Sedona, AZ becomes our new hiking destination with the goal of 10 miles in one afternoon.  
  

Taking it Day-by-Day:

October 10, 2025

•  Danielle receives the “all clear” for her foot, only to still require a cortisone injection due to a neuroma the day before take-off.

October 11, 2025

• Kelly, Danielle, and Whitney fly out of O’Hare.  We fly into Arizona and bring the rain from the Midwest with us.

  

October 12, 2025

• We wake up to flash flood warnings and sheets of rain with dark skies and ominous clouds.

• The situation- Danielle is doing her exercises and nursing her foot with a tender injection site, hoping she will be able to hike the next day.  Whitney is on day two of a stiff neck and pain shooting down her left arm.  Uses pain-relieving cream and receives massage.   Kelly wakes up with extreme pain in her hip/lower back.  Cannot walk without pain and cannot squat.  Receives an hour-long massage, alternating ice and Advil for the rest of the day- hoping she would be ready to go.  Angela is currently giving her ALL to last-minute preparations for the fundraiser that evening as she was the EMCEE, the host for the panel, bringing in the food, setting up, and also singing with her daughter during the “entertainment” portion of the evening.  What a crew!

• Around noon, Kelly, Danielle, and Whitney venture out to Trader Joe’s to purchase the ingredients needed to prepare appetizers for that evening.  We also wanted to purchase some trial mix and bars for our big hike.

• After standing in the aisle for a good chunk of time discussing protein bar options, the store clerk offers to help us- and boy does she ever!  Sandra, as we learned her name, used to be a trail guide for women’s retreats all around Arizona.  She shared with us insider hacks for parking and accessing trails via the back ways- including offering up the idea for us to hike Cathedral Rock via the Baldwin trail in Sedona.  At this point, we were still committed to Wilson Mountain in the same general vicinity, but we GREATLY appreciated her invaluable insight.
  

  

  Whitney, Sandra, Danielle, and Kelly at Trader Joe's

• At 3:00 pm, the rain let up and by the event at 4:00 pm, we had perfect weather at the start of the “Better Together” Event.

Taking it Hour by Hour:

October 13, 2025

• 7:00 am- Wake up to see that we hit 100% of our fundraising goal!

• 8:00 am - Eat a hearty breakfast!

• 9:00 am - Head to Angela’s.

• 10:00 am - Start our 2-hour drive to Sedona- through the pouring rain.

• 11:00 am- Continue to check the forecast- continue to see rain.  Continue to hope and pray we will be able to hike in Sedona.

And Then, Minute by Minute:

• 11:25 am- Forecast calls for rain all afternoon.

• 11:30 am- We arrived in Sedona at Cathedral Rock (thanks, Sandra! As it wasn’t safe to hike 5 miles out and back with the flood warnings) and had to decide if we were going to hike in the storms or turn around to try to go back and hike in the Phoenix.

• 11:35 am- Kelly prays.

• 11:38 am- The rain stops.

• 11:39 am- We get out of the car to see dark rain clouds on one side of us moving away from us and blue skies coming towards us- without a cloud in view!

• 11:45 am- We start our hike, and until we finish at 3:45 pm, we have nothing but blue skies and warm Arizona sun shining down on us!

• At two particular junctures, we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to make it up any farther.  The incline was so steep, and the scrambling was so physically demanding.  However, with a little help from our friends, we were able to push and pull one another up the tricky crevasses.  

• We also met a woman named Jean, who encouraged us and guided us to the very top so that we could do this!

• We hop back in the car at 3:45 pm, and the rains begin again.  We haven’t even turned from the parking lot road, and our windshield wipers are on.
  

  

  

  

  

  

  
  
  

• 3:55 pm - We see the BOLDEST BRIGHTEST DOUBLE RAINBOW WE HAVE EVER WITNESSED!

• 4:30 pm - We drive to Wilson Mountain Trail and begin our trek on Wilson Canyon to finish the remainder of our hike as we wanted to log as many miles as was safely possible. We pull into the parking lot, and the rain stops again.

• We hike until 5:50 pm, because the sun sets at 6:00 pm.

• At 5:55 pm, we drive to the top of the mountain just in time to get this gorgeous view.

• And at 6:09 pm, a professional photographer just happened to be near us and snapped our picture- after 7.75 miles (including, at one point, a 1,000 ft elevation gain in only 0.3 miles)

• We ended the day with bellies full of Mexican Food, and hearts full of gratitude.  We couldn’t believe it- after all the physical setbacks and challenges and the literal flooding in the desert - it just seemed nearly impossible.  

• But, then we remembered our Audacious Hope that we had asking for God to part the clouds and Illuminate our path with sunlight, choosing to be Brave Enough to take the first step, and trusting that we are always Better Together.  This experience, with all of the ups and downs, reminded us of the powerful truth, and the message we want to continue to spread around - No One Walks Through the Valley Alone
  

  

  Our last photo as we finished up our day of hiking.