I hear you on pavement under you. Just read another post here about a PA-22 going down enroute to Arlington. Very sorry to hear this news. While I have flown the Idaho Backcountry for many years, I find the Cascades more nerve-wracking. As you mentioned, best to follow the roads.
My three good friends (two newly minted Private Pilots and a passenger) took a direct flight shortly after obtaining their pilots' licenses from Twin Falls, ID to Billings, MT. In February. Direct. Over the Beartooth Mountains. They made it to Billings, and did their business. They returned the same route, and never made it home. That was 1988 and I still miss those guys.