Laura Hall and her family get an exclusive look at Intrepid’s new Finland family holiday and discover a new way to experience nature in an arctic forest.
There’s a tree stump at the edge of Halipuu Forest in Finland that tells a story. It’s just a few steps down the woodland trail from the car park and it’s the reason this forest is standing today.
‘This is where my father’s lumberjack career began, aged just 12,’ says Riitta Raekallio-Wunderink, who runs Halipuu Forest with her husband Steffan, patting the old stump. It’s also where it ended, decades later, with his realisation that he cherished the living forest more than the timber he gained by chopping it down.
Riitta’s father grew up here, on a piece of land given to his family by the state after they fled the fighting between Finland and the Soviet Union in the south during World War II. And, as she puts it, it wasn’t an easy childhood: ‘Imagine looking after eleven children in temperatures of -35°C.’ The family was saved by the forest; timber was scarce back then, so cutting down the trees provided them with crucial income and a means of survival.
‘Ten years ago, we were sitting at the campfire grilling sausages together when a tree fell in the forest,’ Riitta recollects. ‘Dad said it was a sign that it was time to cut the forest down. But he also said he didn’t want to. He had this crazy idea that instead of cutting the trees down, we should put them up for adoption online and see if we could encourage people to rent them as hugging trees.’
What sounds like a crazy idea has grown roots and leaves and now flourishes: the former timber forest is now a place where people can adopt trees, attend the annual World Tree Hugging Championships and indulge in the delights of arctic cocooning. Arctic what? Well, we’ll get to that.
Walking in a wonderland, whether it’s winter or not
I’m on holiday in Finnish Lapland with my children, aged 10 and 14, exploring everything the area has to offer, from husky dog buggy rides to hand-feeding reindeer. It’s fair to say that this forest experience is the most unusual. It’s October, and as we follow Riitta down the muddy forest track, we can see patches of snow that fell last week next to green, star-shaped moss and frost-covered mushrooms. High above us, wispy, beard-like lichen hangs from tree boughs, collecting raindrops. As the gentle wintery sun shines through the trees, the drops sparkle like jewels.
Trees are a precious commodity here, around 170 kilometres (105 miles) north of the Arctic Circle. Due to the climate in this extreme location, they only grow for eight weeks a year – and when you chop a tree down, it takes generations for another to grow in its place. It means, ‘when you plant a tree here, you won’t enjoy it and neither will your children: it’s something for your children’s children,’ says Riitta.
I’m hoping to plant a different kind of seed in my children’s minds: an interest in nature and an appreciation of the world around them. As a frazzled mum, I’m keen to reduce my stress and have a relaxing holiday too. While travelling with a local leader has certainly made the logistics easier, it’s been a while since I’ve had a truly restful holiday. What I didn’t realise was that these two things can come together.
A warm welcome from the forest
We follow the path through the forest, marked by orange ribbons on the trees, picking ruby-coloured lingonberries from the bushes as we go. Riitta stops us part way along it, asking us to put our glove-free hands on the tree trunks beside us, one on a silver birch tree, another on a pine.
‘What can you feel?’ she says. ‘Is there a difference between the two trees?’
We try hard to work it out. ‘One is smooth and the other is rough?’ volunteers Olivia. It’s true, but it’s not the right answer. Riitta puts us out of our misery and says that these two trees behave very differently in the cold, and perhaps it’s not cold enough yet to tell the difference, but birch trees pull all their energy into their roots, while pine trees are always warm, even in the depths of winter.
‘They actually change their cell structure,’ she explains, ‘increasing the sugar structure in their cells like a kind of antifreeze to keep them from expanding and contracting with the changing temperatures.’
Survival in the Arctic is a real thing: in these parts, temperatures can drop below -40°C and in the polar winter night season the sun sinks and doesn’t come up for over two weeks. Nature goes into hibernation beneath layer upon layer of snow, and winter can linger for up to seven months of the year. Just as the ground is covered in soft rolling moss as we walk through it, in a few weeks it will be covered in snow.
Forest bathing in full swing
It’s enough to make you shiver and reach for a blanket, and conveniently there is one on hand as we reach the midpoint of the forest walk: the arctic cocoons. Strung between the trees, three hammocks cosy with grey woollen blankets are waiting for us, a few steps from a roaring campfire. We obligingly climb in, with Riitta on hand to tuck in another blanket and set us gently swinging.
We’re giggling; nobody has tucked me into bed since I was a child. Ellie looks over with pink cheeks and says it’s like being a baby again, and Olivia just looks up at the trees above, a smile playing on her lips. The clouds above us are pure white; the tall trees below them so dark they look like paper cutouts.
It’s a supremely relaxing experience as we swing in the quiet forest, breathing in its cool, clean air. As we breathe in, we’re also breathing in phytoncides, plant chemicals that trees release into the air to protect themselves from invasive species and organisms. These natural chemicals have been proven to boost human health too, reducing cortisol levels, decreasing stress and lowering blood pressure.
I feel the stress drop from my shoulders and dissolve in my body. The kids chuckle as Riitta swings them again.
Embracing nature (and its health benefits)
All too soon it’s time to go, but not before we do one last thing. Riitta tells us that really, we shouldn’t leave the forest without getting the best health benefit there: by hugging a tree.
‘Halipuu means “a tree to hug”,’ she says, explaining how they named the forest, ‘And it’s all come out of a love for the forest.’
It doesn’t feel like a strange thing to do, to wrap our arms around the tree trunks, close our eyes and breathe in their woody scent for a moment or two. It’s an appreciation of the forest and its survival skills, as well as an appreciation of how good it can feel to experience nature in such a calming way. I’m thankful for a break, and a moment of pure relaxation in the trees.
Then we’re back on the track to the car, past blueberry bushes and bright pink moss, anthills and carpets of fallen leaves. We’ve been thoroughly exploring Finnish Lapland’s treasures all week, from its restaurants serving mushrooms and reindeer steaks to its local handicrafts, but this is the one experience the kids can’t stop talking about when they get home.
Laura Hall and her children travelled to Finland as guests of Intrepid. You and your loved ones can experience arctic cocooning on Intrepid’s new Finland Family Holiday.
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