PHOENIX — A blind man hiking across Arizona is nearing the halfway mark of his trip.

Mike Armstrong and his two guides have covered nearly 400 miles along the Arizona trail since they began their trek April 2 near the Mexican border. The trip will end at the Utah border.

Armstrong was born with a hereditary disease which destroyed his retinas. Shortly after his 27th birthday, he was pronounced blind with no chance of getting his sight back. He subsequently had both eyes removed.

Armstrong said that, although he can’t see the trail, he is experiencing it.

“I can feel the beauty around me, I can smell the different scents in the areas of the trees and the bushes, what’s in bloom. I can hear the animals out there, especially the birds.”

To view the whole story go to: http://ktar.com/category/local-news-articles/20110428/Blind-hiker-at-halfway-point-in-trek-across-Arizona/

Parker Canyon Lake from the crest trail on Miller Peak

It’s amazing out there, I don’t know how to describe it, It is incredible feeling the amount of raw wilderness surrounding us. It’s strange yet appealing to travel 20 miles and not hear planes flying overhead, No sounds of traffic, …or signs of today’s technology.

As I look back at the 116 miles we’ve travelled, it leaves me in awe of the beauty and majesty of the country that we have already experienced. One does not have to see to appreciate this treasure.

Life is going to be a serious trip for the next 5 weeks.

God Bless
Sensei Mike

No, this is not an April’s Fools Joke. April 2nd is our first day on the trail. This is going to be an amazing experience! We have trained hard and I believe we are ready.

I would like to put out a huge thank you to our sponsors! Steve and Brad with Peace Surplus were incredible. Steve went out of his way to help me and my team out. If you are ever near Flagstaff Peace Surplus is the place to go.

I would also like to thank Merrell for hooking the team up with our hiking boots.

Evidently Wal-Mart took me serious when I said “Will hike for food!” Thanks.

We have KAVU to thank for our awesome hats (Chilba).

In case you have not heard about this adventure, Ben Cane, Yancey Herriage and I are going to hike 807 miles from Mexico to Utah on the AZT for the Foundation for Blind Children a Phoenix based 501c3.

You can follow our journey here on blindmotivation.com or seeitourway.org. We are hoping to raise enough money to put 43 kids through a summer program for the blind. If you would like to help a child go to http://blindmotivation.com/donations/

Keep an eye out for updates from the Crazy Blind Sensei Mike Armstrong.

While we are hiking the trail we will be making blog posts as well as facebook posts. So keep an eye out and we will let everyone know where we are and how we are doing.

Day 1 of 40 begins on April 2nd.

I just wanted to take a minute and thank everyone who supported Team Armstrong on Saturday by coming out to “Blind and Unplugged” with your help we raised over $1,000 that night. While this is a great start we have a long way to go before we raise our goal of $43,000 for the Foundation for Blind Children; Please help us attain this goal by spreading the word of our adventure to your friends and family.

In other news I wanted to let everyone know that Mike Armstrong and his Sighted Guide Ben Cane will be hiking the trail 100 for 2 hours every Mon, Wed, & Fri until we leave for the Arizona trail. We will meet at The Hiking Shack at 5 am. Feel free to join us but please give us a heads up through our Facebook page in advance so that we can expect you.

New Merrells after 5 Miles of Hiking. Next update after 800 something miles...

Just yesterday Sensei Mike and I went on a quick little 5 mile training hike in the McDowell mountains to stretch out our legs and break in our newly donated Merrells at the same time (we love these boots!).

As we were hiking we also came to the realization that we are approaching 2011 very quickly which means our Arizona trail hike is only a few months away.

Team Armstrong is very excited and we are going to be stepping up our fund-raising for the Foundation for Blind Children. Over the next few months we are looking to raise at least $43,000 for the FBC and we are hoping that everyone will help us make that possible.

If you would like to help the FBC and help support our Arizona Trail hike please visit our donations page at: http://blindmotivation.com/donations/

If you donate TODAY 12-31-10 you will still receive the 2010 Arizona Tax Credit. If you donate tomorrow you will just have to wait for the 2011 Arizona Tax Credit.