We live on the outskirts of Chicago. Ordinary holiday traffic brings the local roads to a standstill, suggesting that a natural disaster evacuation will be breathtakingly slow. There is an intriguing alternative bug-out mode: paddling down the Des Plaines River. Every spring, on a Sunday afternoon, about a thousand canoes and kayaks participate in the 19 mile marathon and it generally goes well-better in high water than low, but it is flat water navigation, no rapids or falls. Occasional dams and strainers. And the river flows through Chicago and down to the Mississippi. Loading the canoe with camping gear and paddling beats loading me with camping gear and walking. Most of the river is surprisingly non-urban-the flood plain is a bad place to build, so it is mostly park land, with lots of deer, raccoons, possums, herons and ducks, and few people. Travel at night, lay up under camo taps during the day. 85% of the water in the river in the summer is actually Lake Michigan water that has made it through municipal water/sewage systems, so it might need a bit of work to make it potable. No gasoline required, not even much paddling because it is downhill all the way. Anybody else considering a canoe-kayak based bug out plan?