Arctic Cocooning is Finland’s newest winter activity
I crawled into a hammock strung between two pine trees to lie under a warm, comfortable blanket that protected me from the cold surrounding me. The only thing exposed to the weather is my face, which I quickly hide under the blanket to keep warm. I am lightly pushed and start to swing under the towering trees. It’s the perfect time for arctic naps, or if you’re like me and can’t sleep, the perfect time to relax and reflect while the only sounds around me are my own breathing and the soft breeze blowing through the trees.
For about half an hour I lay in the stillness of winter, watching the trees above dance under a blue sky speckled with cotton candy clouds. As I breathe in, the smell of a campfire a short distance away fills my nostrils. I am HaliPuua pine and birch forest in Veitservasa in the Arctic Circle, where this hammock activity, called arctic cocooning, is an alternative form of forest bathing.
It is not uncommon in Finland for parents to do that putting her baby outside in cold weather to sleep in the freezing cold. They say fresh air improves sleep. Why not try it for adults too?
This gentlest of arctic adventures is much more accessible to your average person. Hard-core ice picks are not needed here, despite the journey far north to reach HaliPuu, near the remote Lapland town of Levi. It is the destination of two flights. Passengers on the main flight to Finland want to get on another, shorter domestic flight.
Finnair offers direct tickets to Helsinki from Dallas, Seattle, Chicago, New York, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Another Finnair flight from Helsinki takes passengers to Kittilä in the Arctic Circle. When you land, you can rent a car or arrange a car service for a short 20-minute drive to HaliPuu. Arctic cocooning activities, nice campfire treats and warm drinks await there.
HaliPuu, a 25-hectare forest that has been in the same family for generations, wasn’t always a place for arctic fun. Initially, the goal was to cut down these trees because it started as a logging forest.
In 1948, Kaarle Raekallio had to flee the battles of World War II, and moved here as a child with his family from Petsamo, now known as Petsamo, Russia, near the Barents Sea. The family fled the area after the Russian invasion and ended up in Veitservasa forest. The sale of forest wood brought income to the family, and Kaarle spent his life in these forests, collecting cones for seeds and later working as a lumberjack, while at the same time trying to promote the health of the forest.
In 2014, Kaarle and his family decided that they want to preserve the forest and keep the trees standing instead of cutting them down. It was Easter, and Kaarle and his family were sitting in the forest grilling sausages and drinking coffee, when Kaarle realized that the forest was ripe for logging, but he didn’t want to cut it down.
“He was joking, but said: ‘Let’s take trees as hug trees for the people of the world,'” says Kaarle’s daughter Riitta Raekallio-Wunderink. “I immediately felt that it was a great idea and I started developing the idea further.”
Hugging trees, part of forest bathing, is known for its health benefits, such as reduced stress levels, increased immunityand counted down pulse and blood pressure.
First, HaliPuu came to life as a place where visitors can “adopt” a tree, where they buy a tree from the forest and then go there to experience the healing power of nature and the hug of the trees. But Riitta wanted to do more, so she came up with the idea of arctic enclosure. “I had a vision of hammocks hanging between trees, and it made sense to me right away,” he says. And as I rock back and forth in my hammock, bundled up like a baby, enjoying the beauty of the forest, it makes sense to me too.
Sure, many visitors try see the northern lights while in the Arctic Circle. Glass-domed igloos at Levi’s Igloos are perfect for this, as you can rest from the warmth of the bed, staring at the sky, watching the lights dance in shades of green, blue and purple. Levin Iglut has an on-site restaurant with a three- to five-course menu that varies seasonally, but often includes local produce such as berries, fish and lichen. The hotel can also organize activities such as snowshoeing and reindeer farm visits.
Back at HaliPuu, eyes closed and in the arctic oasis, I feel a gentle nudge on my shoulder. It’s Riitta who whispers that I’m welcome to continue cooking or go to the campfire, where her husband Steffan Wunderink is whipping up warm drinks and delicacies. Of course my stomach wins and I head to the campfire a short distance away.
Kettles, kettles and coffee makers are heated by the open fire, and Steffan recommends trying his dirty Chai latte, made with Lapland chaga syrup, juniper berries and birch leaves, which add an arctic twist to an already great latte. As I sip my warm drink and roast homemade lingonberry marshmallows over the fire, Steffan tells me that he might be the world’s first campfire bartender. She prides herself on making hot cocoa and handing out lingonberry chocolate chip cookies. Sure, there have been people who have made coffee by the campfire before Steffan, but how many of them gather chaga mushrooms from birch trees to make their own homemade syrup for arctic latte specialties? From the campfire bar, indeed.
After the warm-up, Riitta and Steffan encourage me to go into the forest and choose a tree that speaks to me. Riitta says that it can be any tree; I just need to give it a good hug to get the benefits of tree hugging. I choose a towering pine tree, wrap my arms around it and squeeze it. Riitta demonstrates pressing her cheek against the shell, which I imitate. It seems silly at first, but soon I feel peace in the forest. It’s almost like hugging a loved one—a loved one with a rough, scratchy face.
I look around at the forest and look back at my hammock strung between two trees, the smoky campfire and the rows of trees standing in the forest waiting for a hammock or a hug. This place was never meant to be torn down. It was meant to bring joy and relaxation to those who don’t get to see this kind of magic too often. It was intended for arctic enclosure. I say goodbye to my tree and walk through the snow, hoping to return one day for more Finnish comfort.