Idaho 2^nd District Congressman Mike Simpson has lost 68 pounds in the past 18 months, the Idaho Statesman’s Washington bureau reporter Rob Hotakainen writes, and is in training to hike Castle Peak, the highest point in Idaho’s White Cloud Mountains, in August. Simpson’s move, after a doctor urged him to trim down, also coincides with his victory in his 15-year effort to win passage of a wilderness bill to protect the Boulder-White Clouds.

Now, Simpson is launching the “#HikewithMike” Idaho Step Challenge, urging people to walk the equivalent of 2,963 miles in the next 12 to 15 months – roughly the distance from Idaho’s state Capitol to the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Participants will be able to sign up and track their progress on a map of the United States.

Simpson, whose weight dropped from 275 to 207, said he ate smaller portions and did lots of walking, an average of 5 miles a day. He’s still hoping to drop another 17 pounds. The Statesman’s full story is online here.