LA to Mammoth Mountain: A Mathematical Zen Drive

Crystal Geyser, Olancha

Bottled water is healthier than tap water. That's a myth. And we've all been suckers. It's a $15 billion industry of total waste. Next time you purchase a bottle of Fiji water, contemplate the black air diesel generators that keep their plants churning at night when electrical power is shut-off in Fiji. Then there's the 8000-mile journey of jet fuel to get the eco-branded, buck-fifty bottle into your hands. Toss the plastic bottle in the trash, where it's transported to your local landfill, and some 700 years later, the plastic bottle will finish biodegrading.

Tap water in the U.S. is completely safe, and the added flouride helps prevent cavities! If you're in a bind, and must purchase bottled water on your drive to Mammoth, make it Crystal Geyser. It's local. No generators and no airplanes necessary to get Crystal Geyser into your hands. Same 700-year expiration date, though.

Phil Jackson: "As irrigators leave water where they want, as archers make their arrows straight, as carpenters carve wood, the wise shape their minds."

Next page: The last 100 miles