For my free inquiry project, I will be exploring a different hiking trail every week. Along my hikes, I will be taking pictures of my discoveries and wonderings about the area. This week I visited Horth Hill Regional Park in Sidney. It was a foggy weekend, so I decided to stay close to home and adventure in a familiar place. It is one of my favourite spots to visit because the loop can be completed in under an hour, there are goats, and sometimes horses are on the trails. Each time I visit the park, I find something different; a few months ago, I discovered a newt! This time I spent about two hours at the park hiking, visiting the goats, and building a fort. I never noticed before how unique the rock formations at Horth Hill are. At the summit, rocks appear to be sliding upwards to the sky in sharp layers while others were crackling and crumbling back down.

The fog transformed the forest. It felt as though I was in a different world. In this photo, I am looking up at the trees. The picture is colour but looks black and white because of the strange weather.

A few months ago, there was a destructive windstorm. I visited Horth Hill a few days later, and many of the paths became blocked by fallen trees, turning them into obstacle courses instead. I was in awe of how large this particular tree must have been before it too fell over. The aftermath of this storm has now become part of the layered and damp forest floor.

Still leftover from Christmas was a small tree, no bigger than a bush adorned with Christmas decorations.

A little way up the trail, I visited a goat and some chickens. There are usually several goats in the summer, but during the rain, they stay in their leaky wooden house. There is a blue kid slide for the goats to play on in their yard. The goats always seem excited to greet each visitor!

Along the path and there were countless animal holes. I found this collection of holes, and it made me wonder what animals are burrowing here. I am guessing bunnies and squirrels. After some research, bunny burrows resemble these the most. I also found some other animals found on Vancouver Island to be on the lookout for on my hikes.

I never noticed how unique the rocks were at Horth Hill. Evidence for how the mountain was formed is visible at the top. Some of the loose rocks came in various shapes including a perfect triangle! I am curious about what kinds of rocks I found and what the history of Horth Hill is.

I found this fungus growing out of a cut-down tree during my hike. According to the Seek App, it is possibly Red Belt Fungus. A type of wood decay fungus, it thrives on damp wood. Many of the fallen branches were so wet it felt like I was picking up cardboard.

I enjoyed playing in one of the best fort-building forests at the end of my hike! Horth Hill has unlimited spots for building and many stumps and fallen down logs that could be the base of monumental constructions. I could spend a lot longer than a few hours here, and it is an inspiration to start a 1000 Hours Outside challenge.