AN IFR C182RG PLT ENCOUNTERED ICE AT HIS FILED 8000 FT ALT AND DIVERTED OFF AIRWAYS WHILE DSNDING CLR OF ICE.

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AFTER A WKEND WITH GRANDCHILDREN; SPOUSE AND I SCHEDULED A RETURN DEPARTING ZZZ3 AT XA00. I CHKED WX THE PREVIOUS AFTERNOON AND FILED IFR. I ALSO CHKED ADDS; DUATS; NOAA WX ON-LINE PRODUCTS; AND THE CNN NEWS WX RPTS. HIGH PRESSURE WAS OVER MY RTE OF FLT WITH MODERATE TURB FORECAST. BEFORE DEPARTING; I CHKED THE ON-LINE COMPUTER AT ZZZ3 AND NOTED NO SIGNIFICANT WX. FREEZING LEVELS WERE AT 6000 FT; BUT WITH HIGH PRESSURE AND NO RAIN IN THE FORECAST I WAS NOT CONCERNED WITH TEMPS. AT 8000 FT MSL; I WAS IN HVY HAZE BUT COULD SEE THE GND. AFTER ABOUT 1 HR; I WAS IN MORE CLOUD THAN HAZE; BUT THERE WAS NO PRECIP. I RECEIVED HDOF TO ZZZ1 AT WHICH TIME I ASKED TO BE OFF-LINE TO CHK IN WITH FSS. FSS INFORMED ME OF CONDITIONS IN THE AREA WITH ICING CONDITIONS AT MY FLT LEVEL. WHILE ON-LINE WITH FSS; I WENT FROM INSTANT NO ICE CONDITION TO AN OPAQUE ICED WINDSHIELD. I THANKED FSS AND IMMEDIATELY WENT BACK TO ZZZ1 AND RPTED MY PROB AND ASKED FOR LOWER ALT. NOT WANTING TO CONTINUE INTO ADVERSE CONDITIONS; I TOLD ZZZ1 I WOULD LIKE LOWER AND AN IMMEDIATE 360 DEG TURN. (I MEANT A 180 DEG REVERSAL OF COURSE.) AFTER WHAT SEEMED LIKE MORE THAN APPROPRIATE TIME AND STILL PICKING UP ICE; I TURNED 180 DEGS; MAINTAINING 8000 FT WITHOUT CLRNC TO DO SO. ZZZ1 THEN CAME ON LINE; ASKED MY HDG; AND CLRED ME TO 6000 FT AND ISSUED A MORE WESTERLY HDG. AFTER A FEW MINS; I WAS THEN HANDED BACK TO ZZZ2. ZZZ2 DID A FANTASTIC JOB OF GIVING ME HDGS AND ALTS THAT WOULD GET ME OUT OF THE ICING CONDITIONS AND HELP ME SHED THE BUILDUP I HAD. I WAS OVER MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN AND WAS LIMITED TO AVAILABLE OPTIONS. THERE WAS SOME CONFUSION AS TO HDGS AND AT TIMES I STOPPED AT ALTS BTWN LAYERS INSTEAD OF THE ASSIGNED ALT. ALTHOUGH I WAS NOT GIVEN CLRNC FOR EACH ACTION; I DID; HOWEVER; INFORM ZZZ2 OF MY ALTS AND HDGS. I WAS ASKED OF MY INTENTIONS AFTER LOSING THE ICE. I INDICATED THAT I WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE THE FLT IF THERE WAS A RTE OUTSIDE OF ICING CONDITIONS. AFTER REACHING 3800 FT AND THE ICE WAS FINALLY GONE; ZZZ2 SUGGESTED A RTE WHERE CONDITIONS WERE MORE FAVORABLE. THE REMAINING FLT WAS UNEVENTFUL. THERE ARE MANY LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM THIS EXPERIENCE. THE FIRST IS IN THE PREFLT PLANNING. I ASSUMED GOOD WX FROM RPTS; BUT LISTENED TO ONLY THE PORTIONS I WANTED TO HEAR. EXPERIENCE SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME A HIGH PRESSURE IS OFTEN CLOUDY AND WHEN CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST TO BE UNSTABLE WITH TURB; PRECIP IS LIKELY. A LAST CALL TO FSS WOULD HAVE GIVEN ADDITIONAL INFO. THEN THERE IS RECOGNIZING ICING CONDITIONS PRIOR TO CONDITIONS THAT COULD JEOPARDIZE SAFETY. WHEN I SAW THAT THE TEMPS WERE NEAR ZERO; IT WAS TIME TO TAKE POSITIVE AND IMMEDIATE ACTION. NOT WAIT UNTIL POTENTIAL DANGER COULD OCCUR. THE FLT 3 DAYS BEFORE HAD BEEN PLANNED TO AVOID WX BY GOING AROUND THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SE. THE SAME CONCEPT SHOULD HAVE BEEN USED ON THE RETURN TRIP. INSTEAD; I ELECTED TO TAKE A FASTER DIRECT RTE HOME. POOR JUDGEMENT. AFTER ICING CONDITIONS OCCURRED; MY FOCUS WAS ON GETTING RID OF THE ICE. I DID NOT COMPLETELY FOLLOW DIRECTIONS BY ATC. UNLESS I WAS IN CONDITIONS WHERE AN EMER NEEDED TO BE DECLARED; ATC INSTRUCTIONS SHOULD BE STRICTLY ADHERED TO. WHEN MY CONDITIONS CHANGED; I SHOULD HAVE WAITED FOR CLRNC BEFORE CHANGING MY ALT OR HDG.