A pilot who departed HWD VFR flying to southern California encountered IMC near CVH but did not reverse course. Finally after shedding ice he became VMC again over the central California valley.

Narrative

I was on a VFR flight departing for Southern California airport with a Central Valley fuel stop. I self briefed for the weather on DUAT. I believed I would encounter a band of clouds in the vicinity of Hollister airport (CVH) and that the weather would be clear south of these clouds. I stopped at RHV for supplies and fuel and flew southeast. Above Hollister there was a band of towering cumulus. I was climbing and maneuvering to avoid the clouds gradually turning east. At one point; I determined that the path ahead was blocked and that I would not be able to out climb the clouds ahead of me. I initiated a 180 degree; but too late. I found myself in a cloud immediately. I had neglected to note a reciprocal heading before taking the turn. My only alternative (I thought at that time) was to proceed on the planned course; which would take me over the Central Valley and away from the hills. I had an operating hand-held GPS on board and a Zaon PCAS device. I continued to climb but could not get beyond 7;500 FT. The aircraft descended to 6;700 FT and would climb no further. My passenger saw the ground through a break in the clouds and I recognized flat land in the vicinity of Panoche VOR. Previously I had contacted Oakland flight watch to determine the weather at Paso Robles (PRB) and BFL. Both were reporting overcast at 2;500 FT. I know that if I could get under the overcast; we'd be able to land. We descended in the break in the clouds. At 4;000 FT a quarter inch of ice sloughed off the windshield. Under the overcast we proceeded to land at a Central Valley airport as planned. Writing this now I am amazed that I did not turn back to Hollister since I had GPS on board. At least I knew that area to be clear. In many years of flying; this is the first time VFR into IMC (I have 2 hours of IFR training with an instructor in actual IMC; this certainly saved our lives). There are many lessons in this event; things to think about. I need to get much better at interpreting weather between airports; specifically as it relates to ceilings. It is just in writing out the experience now that I realized that I could have turned back; this never even occurred to me until now.