In Today’s Newsletter: From dramatic rescue missions to expert advice on navigating dense fog, this week’s stories cover the challenges, lessons and unforgettable adventures that keep paddlers coming back to the water.

A helicopter rescue team navigated rain and darkness in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to reach a pair of stranded paddlers.

This little-known paddling mecca is brimming with opportunities, from big-lake travel to portage routes to whitewater descents.

I read the prediction on a calm night two weeks into a trip tracing the Canadian shoreline of Lake Superior. We were sitting on a nameless cobble beach, watching the sunset and boiling water for tea. I pulled out a tea bag and read the tiny typed quote dangling at the end of the string: One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning.

Unusually ominous for a brand called Nature’s Blessings, I thought. Typically, the fortunes were poetic lines about flowers and trees. I quickly forgot about it.

Two days later, we slipped onto the lake before a clear dawn. We were determined to make up miles after a day stuck windbound. But as the sun cleared the horizon, yesterday’s steamy tailwind returned, and the big friendly swells gained energy. Whitecaps appeared. The following sea was building fast, and we had to paddle farther and farther offshore to avoid waves crashing on hidden shoals. There was no turning back, and safe harbor was still miles away.

It wasn’t until we reached a sheltered bay—rattled, exhausted, jubilant—that I remembered the fortune-telling tea bag.

The thorn was an effective teacher about how quickly conditions can turn. Fortunately, it’s not the only way to learn. Humans have always relied on stories—whether around campfires or in magazines—to pass along lessons about risk, judgment and wild places…

Have a question? Reply to this email to submit your paddling-related question, and we’ll do our best to answer it in an upcoming newsletter.

A: Sea kayaking in the fog when out on big open water and navigating to an intended way-point can be intimidating even for the seasoned paddler. One tip is to always err on the side of caution when planning a low-visibility crossing. Intentionally follow a compass bearing toward a prominent landmass—or ‘backstop’—adjacent to your destination. Aiming off is especially important in currents and windy conditions, or on long crossings, where the risks of screwing up are considerably higher. This is just one piece of the foggy puzzle though, and writer and avid kayaker Conor Mihell has five more techniques for staying the course and reaching your intended destination when visibility is low.