As a 10-year-old Girl Scout in the 1950s, Sheila Hutt made her own bedroll by pinning together a blanket and a sheet to stay snug while camping near her hometown of Tupper Lake. She packed this bedroll for a troop outing to Heart Lake near Lake Placid. That trip was the first time she turned down Adirondack Loj Road and saw the panoramic view of the Adirondack High Peaks.

“I’d seen mountains and lakes at home, but this was special,” she remembers. “It’s an iconic view, and an Adirondack treasure.”

Sheila, 80, has spent decades seeking Adirondack gems. After learning to paddle on Heart Lake, she went on to hike alpine summits and cross-country ski from Tahawus in Newcomb to Lake Placid. Sheila married fellow Tupper Laker Jim Hutt, and they made their way to New York City. They created a successful business building architectural models, but they dreamed of living among wild forests.

That opportunity came when they visited Blue Mountain Lake and met folks starting a local arts center. Sheila and Jim became the founding co-directors of the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, roles they held for 11 years. They still live in Blue Mountain Lake, knowing that a close-knit community of creative, caring people is another jewel of the Adirondacks.

Now retired, Sheila and Jim enjoy bike rides, ski days, and kayak trips. They also volunteer with the Blue Mountain Lake Association, dedicating time to an annual roadside trash pickup and monitoring water quality on Blue Mountain Lake. “My philosophy is really to be a steward of this wilderness,” Sheila says. “I can’t do that alone. It takes all of us working together.”

Another way Sheila and Jim have given back is by supporting the Adirondack Land Trust for more than 30 years. Sheila further committed to caring for the Adirondacks by including the land trust in her estate plans and becoming an Adirondack Visionary.

In summer 2023, Sheila was delighted to hear that the treasured view that awed her as a child was protected forever by the land trust’s purchase of 187 acres at the corner of Adirondack Loj Road and State Route 73. “I tend to think in generations,” Sheila says. “I want younger people to have the same kind of experience I had growing up. Whatever we can do to help to preserve that, I’m for, and I would like to encourage other people to be for that too.”

Photo by Nancie Battaglia