Be interesting to know why the co-pilot was there.  Usually it's new pilots checking-out in the aircraft but it could be they were expecting to deal with IFR conditions.  A 3rd possibility is that it was a mechanic there to monitor a repair, obviously not a power-plant overhaul or anything but maybe something minor (or seemed minor).  

If they were in IFR conditions you would hope they were climbing to their safe minimum.  Worst case scenario would be trying to navigate terrain on IFR relying on GPS.  Some people don't realize that hills and mountains can bounce the GPS satellite signals around and cause the receiver to miscalculate your position, you would sincerely hope the pilots would know that.  In fact, many,aircraft I've been in have a placard that specifically says "GPS for use with VFR only"

I think the real issue is the culture over at Hageland.  Talking to pilots in Bethel I hear it's a cut-throat culture where the pilots that "get it done" get more hours. We shall see.