A good friend and I talked about this in regards to Aspen or Telluride, CO. If you were to depart ASE or any airport for that matter with VMC conditions prevailing while on an IFR flight plan AND clearance, would you be obligated to the IFR Departure procedure and climb gradient requirements? I am leaning towards saying "yes" and have operated this way for all of my career, but I wish to have some of you "bright" minds chime in on this. Thanks in advance. HF