Great story, and interesting choice of book. It's fascinating to hear "real people" talk about the work they do. I think that's why the Dirty Jobs show is so popular.
Marmot pass looks stunning. Those photos could be used as an advertisement for ebook readers.
My grandparents had a cabin near Snowqualmie Pass (I guess that's the opposite direction from the sound) and I absolutely loved hiking with them in the mountains. Things in New England are so damn flat.
My nightmare job would be going back to corporate retail middle-management. I so loved and respected the people I worked with, and I hated the kind of pressure I had to put on them because of the pressure coming down on me, all to carry out the orders of a board who seemed determined to drive the place into the ground.
Ugh, middle-management sounds awful. I've had some amazing managers, but they were all also put in terrible positions by higher-ups who eventually did manage to drive the project into the ground.
And yes, the Pacific Northwest has a very different brand of wilderness than New England - each lovely in their own way!
Funny about the advertisements comment... after I started doing this, Kindle ran a marketing campaign called #havekindlewilltravel, all this soft warm lighting and perfectly posed millennials. I briefly contemplated contacting them and trying to sell myself out.