Why won't he clear me?? Departing St. George, Utah for Southern CA (EMT)

In this video I depart St. George, Utah (SGU) and pick up an IFR clearance in the air. I'm instructed to maintain VFR and maintain my own terrain and obstruction clearance until reaching a fairly high altitude, highlighting one of the risks of a pop-up clearance. Then later I fly a circling approach to San Gabriel / El Monte (EMT) in Southern CA.
For more information on maintaining "own terrain and obstruction clearance" see this great article by boldmethod. www.boldmethod.com/learn-to-f...

[@FlyingLessons]

Reviewing this in hindsight with a few more years of experience, a few things jump out at me:
* I've had a few more occasions where there are risks of "I'll just depart VFR and pick up the clearance in the air" and then have had to maintain VFR for a while until I could get a clearance. In this case I was below a pretty high MIA/MVA (11,000) and the controller couldn't clear me. IFR isn't a "get out of jail free" card, so you better be prepared to maintain VFR and stay clear of terrain and obstructions.
* Risks of flying into an airport IFR when the weather is MVFR. You can hear and see the VFR traffic at this airport when I'm on the approach. They are legal, but I have very limited visibility. Fortunately people are talking to ATC and getting separation services, but you can see the dangers, and maybe understand a bit about why VFR weather minimums for cloud clearance are what they are. I routinely have even more precarious situations at non-towered fields in MVFR conditions.