I awoke early on a beautiful October Thursday morning. I had been planning to fly from Big Piney, Wyoming, (KBPI) to Meridian, Mississippi, (MEI) to pick up my brother, Darren. I had recently purchased a Bonanza A-36 and Darren was going to take my G-35 V-tail back to Mississippi.
I arrived at the airport about 6 a.m. as I wanted to get an early start on my long cross-country flight. After a thorough preflight of my new airplane I called Flight Service for a weather briefing. I was told everything I wanted to hear by the briefer with one exception, icing conditions between 8,000 feet and 16,000 feet msl along the highest portion of my route. I had planned to fly at 11,500 msl over the mountains at Laramie, Wyoming, and this is exactly where the ice was forecast, so I decided to have a cup of coffee and wait awhile.
