California Mishegoss Daily 2 - Delivering Mail in Hell, Oroville Makes a Statement

More than a century ago, one of the deadliest earthquakes of all time shook the Bay Area. While the 1906 earthquake destroyed more than 80% of San Francisco, its epicenter was thought to be near the town of Olema in Point Reyes, where the quake had ripped up the land most dramatically (later, seismologists determined the epicenter was actually offshore of San Francisco).

EVERY WEDNESDAY FOR NEARLY 30 years, Jill Koch and her husband Jim go to Hell and back. By jet boat. The couple have weathered storms, swirling currents, and other perils to bring mail, year-round, to the residents of Hells Canyon National Recreation Area—a desolate expanse of the Snake River that traverses Eastern Oregon and Northern Idaho. It’s one of the most remote mail routes in the Lower 48, and has been in operation since 1919.