PETERBOROUGH — For Randy Pierce, who has been blind since 2000, each footfall in the woods of New England brings the possibility of serious injury.

But for the past year, Pierce, 44, and his guide dog Quinn have been successfully navigating trails across the state. Just last weekend, Quinn, Pierce and his fiancée, Tracy Goyette, hiked the Wapack trail on Pack Monadnock in preparation for their July 4 ascent of Mount Washington.

Pierce says his achievements as a blind hiker are not earned despite his blindness, but because of it.

“There is no achievement without adversity,” said Pierce. “I’m always pushing myself to do more.”

Pierce has taught karate at the school where he earned his second-degree black belt. His devotion to the New England Patriots earned him a trip to the White House for a party with the team after their 2002 Super Bowl victory. Tedy Bruschi later cited Pierce in his book, under the chapter on inspiration. Pierce returned the favor by finishing a five-mile marathon in 54 minutes and 54 seconds — Bruschi wore number 54 — while simultaneously becoming the first blind man with a guide dog to complete such a race on the east coast. His next project is to climb each of 48 peaks over 4,000 feet in New Hampshire.

On his journey, he’ll bring advice from Erik Weihenmayer, the only blind hiker to climb the “seven summits,” the tallest peaks on each continent.

“He once said to me, ‘You know, hiking in New England is hard,’” said Pierce, who seconded Weihenmayer’s assessment of the challenges unique to the region’s trails. “This is a guy who has climbed Everest and he thinks New England is hard.”

Pierce doubts he would be able to hike at all if it were not for Quinn, a 5-year-old yellow Lab who has no more formal training in guide-hiking than Pierce. He said Quinn has an almost supernatural understanding of the way Pierce’s six-foot-four frame moves and can communicate nuances of the trail through a stiff handle, gentle nudges and responses to Pierce’s prompts.

“Out on a trail, he’s pretty much non-stop saving my life,” said Pierce.

On a hiking trip with a college class, the professor and some students each tried their hands at guiding Pierce through a trail with a combination of descriptions and physical assistance. The professor lasted five steps before Pierce’s knee smashed into a rock outcrop, the kind Quinn has never let go unnoticed. Quinn can handle 12 hours of straight hiking, said Pierce.

The most patient student lasted only an hour before he was emotionally exhausted.

Pierce and Quinn usually hike in groups, and Pierce enjoys experiencing summit views through his fellow hikers.

“When the people I’m with feel that awe, when they touch that magnificence, I can hear that,” said Pierce, whose friend once helped his outstretched hand trace the horizon.

Pierce hopes his actions and achievements will be an inspiration not just to those without sight, but also to anyone with a dream.

“I want to inspire people to do whatever it is that excites them,” he said. “People focus on disability. I like to focus on ability.”

Pierce said if he could go back to 1989, when an unknown neurological disorder first began to rob him of his eyesight, and choose whether or not to go blind, he would choose blindness.

“I’d love to have the vision, don’t get me wrong,” he said, “But blindness is how I became who I am, and I like who I am. I’m hiking for me. This is what I love. I share it with others for what I hope it will help them to achieve. It isn’t about me, it’s about the message.”