Big break in Big Bear

We have made it to mile 268 after 17 days! This last 5 day section seemed to wipe us out as well as many other hikers. After a huge descent to the lowest point in CA at 1,190ft, we went up over 25 miles to about 8,000ft (the longest climb in CA).
Thankfully this section also seemed to have the most trail magic with Ziggy & The Bear trail angels, 3 water/food/soda caches and another tail Angel, Tiffany, in Big Bear.  I tell you what, I don't normally drink soda, but it has never tasted so good out here on the trail.
We got to Big Bear this morning by calling up the new trail Angel in town, Tiffany, at 10am. Not only do we have the same name, we also have the same middle name, our cat has the same name and she has a daughter named Katie :-)  She ran us around town to do errands and has been great to hang out with! Thank you Tiffany!!
Tomorrow we start back on the trail and the weather report looks like a chance of rain/snow for the next two evenings. Even though it will be chilly, the cool weather is welcoming from the heat we have had.
It is so interesting talking to the different hikers; you certainly get all walks of life. People are doing this for all different reasons like life goals, mid-life crisis, celebration of life, meditation, raising money or awareness for a charity, etc. There are rich people, people in debt, people just getting out of debt, retirement, etc. Two interesting hikers I have met are the "wild boys". They are two brothers with their dog who forage for food and are brewing beer in their backpack. They sleep during the day and hike at night. Last I heard they killed a rattlesnake and ate it. Not sure how far they will make it, but it goes to show there is no one way to hike this trail.
Updated trail stays after 17 days:
# snakes: 9
# pushups: 85
# nights no tent: 2
# trail magic: 9
# showers with soap: 4
# days of rain: 0
Here are some recent pics from the trail, caches and from Big Bear.