At 11:44 a.m., fire could be seen over the ridge, less than one mile away.

Part of Soboroff’s anxiousness stemmed from an incident just a week earlier: He and his wife awoke around 1:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day to a brush fire burning on a nearby ridge.

But had the three climbers, who ascended a trail called the Devil’s Backbone for its narrow ridge with spine-tingling drops on either side, seen any scorched earth or trees along the way?

Everywhere in Blue Lake, a tiny Humboldt County town nestled between redwood ridges on the Mad River, people had the same reaction when told theirs is the only all-female city council California.

Mr Wilson said the spit's ridges and dips also added a "natural shelter barrier" against bad winter weather.