Background
Approximately four hours before departure, the pilot had received a weather briefing. On arrival at the airport, he observed that the airport beacon light was not illuminated and there were patches of ground fog in the area.
Flight Approach
The pilot approached from the south, flew north over the airport, circled to the southwest, then turned onto a short final approach for Runway 01. During the turn to final, he noticed that the lights of a convenience store near the north end of the runway were not on. He thought this was odd, as he was scheduled to meet someone there at 0500.
Accident Sequence
As he leveled his wings on final approach, the right wing of the aircraft struck a tall tree. Subsequently, the aircraft crashed in a wooded area and came to rest approximately 100 yards from the runway.