I agree but if you are doing one or the other you cannot combine the two. If you are staying VFR always leave a back door to get out and don't be too proud to divert. I was just wondering if this may have been a VFR flight using instruments/GPS. My only reason for thinking this was I laid a ruler onto a map from the departure point to the destination which put him over the higher ground. The article posted in WA did not ring true to me and I just thought that I would throw the the idea out there (with no real knowledge of the event).