GLADBROOK — Fierce western winds certainly did not make it easy to start 2025 on the right foot with a ‘First Day Hike’ at one of Iowa’s more than 40 participating state parks and forests but several groups of hikers bravely took on the challenge last Wednesday at Union Grove State Park in rural Gladbrook northwest of Garwin.
At least three groups of bundled up folks were observed hiking the South Trail in and around Union Grove Lake just ahead of 1 p.m. on Jan. 1 — a time when the lake’s air temperatures hovered just under a seasonal 30F but the howling west-northwest winds made it feel closer to 10F especially in exposed, non-wooded areas.
Both the north and south sides of the lake were ice-covered while open water in the center lashed hard at the south end’s icy frontier just below the park cabins…