NC mountain view inspires teen philosophers

"You see the clouds. You see the sky. You see the open mountains," said teenager Haley Drabek. "I'm 18. I've been to Africa and I've been to Costa Rica, and I used to live in South Dakota, so I've seen the I've seen all the Black Hills and all the beautiful things out (in the) Midwest, and this is still breathtaking,"

Tourist Jeff Colby brought his family out to see Wiseman's View on their first trip through the Linville Gorge. They, too, appreciated the beauty.

"It's just gorgeous. It's beautiful. It's grand," he said.

Drabek and her group of friends hoped to find a connection with the larger world at Wiseman's World.

"I'm here because I feel like the best way to appreciate life is to get away from it," said teenager Truitt Urbanic. "I like when the infinite expanses collide. It's interesting to see two infinite plains touching ... It's very humbling, and I'm reminded that I'm a speck on a speck on a speck on an infinite black plane."

They were inspired by the landscape and also learned a little about the contradictions of eternity and the present there.

"Someone could come here like five years from now, and it would look technically the same, but they wouldn't have the same experience as we do, because the moment is not the same as we have right now," Drabek said.