Mike's Blog

A blind man’s experience hiking across the Grand Canyon and back

October 20, 2010 by Arizona Trail Athlete Grand Canyon
Sensei, Greg and Cat hiking

I participated in another amazing hike on October 9th and 10th of 2010. This time it was a Rim to Rim to Rim hike across the Grand Canyon. This hike-a-thon was to benefit the Foundation for Blind Children. This forty-eight mile trek was a truly incredible experience, challenging my mind, body and will to succeed.

After our Kilimanjaro climb in 2009 everyone was asking, “What’s next?” There were several ideas suggested like; swimming to Alcatraz, climbing another of the seven summits, hiking the Arizona Trail, climbing Mount Whitney and several of us mentioned the Grand Canyon. After much deliberation it was decided that the next FBC hike-a-thon would be a rim to rim trek from the North Rim to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. This made the most sense because we have one of the world’s seven natural wonders right here in our home state. The date was set for 10/10/10.

Now are you wondering about that extra rim to rim I mentioned earlier? Well my team is in training for an eight hundred mile hike in April of 2011. The hike will run from the Mexico border to the Utah border on The Arizona Trail. We felt that hiking that extra twenty-four miles would give us a good idea of what to expect from our upcoming forty day trek across Arizona. We were not disappointed.

After thoughts of Adventure Team Challenge

July 16, 2010 by Athlete
Team Eye Candy aka Team Cisco

On June 25, 26 and 27 I was a competitor in the 2010 Adventure Team Challenge. The first time I had ever heard of this race was just three weeks prior to the event. This is when I was asked to be on a team. Although I had never been Mountain Biking or White Water Rafting, I decided to take the challenge and go for it. I must say that it was one of the most gratifying events I have ever had the pleasure to be a part of.

Mike on the drums (audio)

July 16, 2010 by Musician
Mike Armstrong on the drums

Aside from being an adventurer and martial artist Sensei Mike Armstrong is also a very talented drummer. Below are a couple of drum solos Mike recorded during a session back in April 2007. Enjoy the tunes! Drum Solo #1 Drum Solo #2 *Click play on the individual track to listen*

Adventure TEAM Challenge

June 17, 2010 by Athlete
Adventure TEAM Challenge

On Friday June 25th, Sensei Mike Armstrong will be traveling to Colorado to join the Adventure TEAM Challenge. Sensei Mike will not be the only handicap person there, as this is a race geared to challenge those with handicaps. The race will consist of trail running, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, mountain biking, and many more challenges.

Training Hike: Mt. Humphreys – Update

June 1, 2010 by Arizona Trail
Arizona Trail Sign

Team Armstrong started the day at about 7AM and found Mt. Humpreys to have quite a bit of snow on it, making it difficult to find the trail. We reached the summit (12,500 ft) after approximately 7 hours of hiking, and after taking a few shortcuts finished the hike at about 7pm; making it a 12 hour day. We are sore and tired but it was a great hike, the snow made it much more technical than usual.