The La Garita Club

ORIGINS

In the spring of 1908, Pennsylvania industrialist, Lawrence C. Phipps, took a vacation trip to Wagon Wheel Gap that would change his life. What he hoped for was a chance to enjoy some good trout fishing. What he discovered was the magic of La Garita. Ducked down below the dike of the third lake, this mustached man with a passion for trout fishing was astounded by the enormous strike on his first cast, and by the ensuing battle to land what turned out to be a five-pound rainbow on the lead fly and a three-pound brook on the dropper. However that had happened – call it La Garita magic – he made up his mind on the spot to buy the place from the widow Thorpe. The year was 1908, and the young executive from Denver with a background in steel, Lawrence Phipps, fell hook, line, and sinker in love with La Garita Ranch.

The beginnings were modest – a rambling log-cabin ranch house with a leaky roof, a few sheds, a handful of short-horn milkers, six ditches, four lakes, and eight quarter sections of land at the confluence of Bellows Creek and the Rio Grande. Hanging in the lounge of the Main Lodge is a turn-of-the-century (19th/20th, that is) photograph of a group of men and women flyfishing on the Rio Grande. Flyfishing neither was nor is an exclusively male-only sport at La Garita.

Even a century ago with the seeming lack of facilities and amenities, the beauty of the land was always there. With three miles of river and an equal stretch of gin-clear waters flowing in Bellows, the lack of facilities didn’t matter. After fishing, there would always be time to build. And one of the first improvements would be the double river-rock fireplaces added two years later when “the Senator” brought his young wife Margaret to the ranch. Those first shared evenings in front of the crackling fire must have kindled visions of what La Garita would become – a second home to four generations of the Phipps family, a treasured spot for members and guests of the La Garita Club to fish and ride, a joyful place to celebrate reunions, weddings, and birthdays: a source of energy, inspiration, and renewal; and an exquisite setting in which to share with family and friends the beauty and best of southwest Colorado.

IMPROVEMENTS

The Phipps family’s commitment to quality is a La Garita tradition. Over the first 30 years, the original homestead on 1,300 acres grew to include 2,400 acres on both sides of the river. The milking sheds became a barn, and the ranch house grew into a first-class Main Lodge with six bedrooms and baths.

The double-canvas tent where Allan and Gerry slept as children in their teens became “The Bunkhouse” in the 1920s. Tony Phipps recently remarked that his grandfather, Senator Phipps, greatly valued La Garita as a learning place for youngsters. Over several summers in the 1920s, he invited General John J. “Blackjack” Pershing to the ranch with his children so they could spend some tough days (”quality time”) herding cattle nearby and learning wilderness skills. By 1950, “The Bunkhouse” had become the “Waldorf” after General Eisenhower slept there, dreaming about catching “the big one” (which he did). During General Eisenhower’s 1950 visit to La Garita, he posed with Tony and Graham Phipps for a photograph on the ranch. Behind the Recreation Hall (1932) Allan and Clara Phipps built “the Ritz” cabin shortly after founding The La Garita Club in 1954. The new swimming pool now lies where the tennis court used to be. Finally, the “Biltmore” cabin was added in 1983 to expand the members’ choice of quality accommodations.

Some of the less visible, but nonetheless vital, improvements on the Ranch involve those made to Bellows Creek. The construction of occasional weirs to create deep pools and preserve the stream banks started by Senator Phipps in the 1920s grew into a total stream rehabilitation program undertaken by Allan from 1982 to 1987. Based on the extensive engineering of Inter-Fluve, Inc., La Garita Ranch now boasts an almost ideal fishing habitat for rainbow, cutthroat, and German brown trout.

The Ranch’s original water rights have been supplemented with additional sources to assure irrigation of the hay meadows in dry years, and sufficient hay for the Club’s 18 horses. Beneath these changes lies the long-term commitment of the Phipps family to preserve La Garita’s natural heritage. In 1984, a conservation easement was conveyed to The Nature Conservancy guaranteeing eco-logical and scenic protection, and non-development of the land. Tony Phipps, who in 2002 received his Ph.D. in environmental planning, has carried on the Phipps Family tradition of prudent, environmentally sound, responsible stewardship. Tony and Graham have worked over the years with the members of The La Garita Club to ensure the Phipps Family’s second century of sharing the beauty and pleasure available on four miles of Bellows Creek, three miles of the Rio Grande, and countless miles of hiking and equestrian trails in the Rockies around Wagon Wheel Gap and Creede, Colorado.

ACTIVITIES

Reflecting its recreational origins, The La Garita Club has always been an active place where things happen – or don’t happen – depending on your mood. Visitors to La Garita did not only include distinguished general officers in the U.S. Army. In the 1960s, Walt Disney dropped by for a chance to dream. Frequent early season visitors to the Ranch, the Denver Broncos coaching staff and team, have had dreams of their own, and vied to see who could drive a golf ball to the other side of the first lake. More recently, member and retired Supreme Court Justice Byron White, found courting trout a supreme challenge and the ultimate source of relaxation.

Film makers, professional athletes, jurists, or generals, the diversity of guests at La Garita Ranch is matched only by the choices of active and passive pursuits. In addition to flyfishing, riding, hiking, and swimming, guests of all ages can find themselves part of volleyball or ultimate Frisbee matches with the staff, riding mountain bikes through forest trails, going on a cattle drive with a local rancher, floating down the Rio Grande in a drift boat or raft, or taking a jeep trip up to the silver mines above Creede. (All good ways to balance the excesses of fine dining.) For nearly 30 years the regionally famous Creede Repertory Theatre has provided a delightful evening counterpoint to daytime adventure.

Whatever a guest’s preferences, the Ranch provides a focal point for access to the surrounding million-acre wilderness, or just as well a quiet place to read a book, star gaze, or listen to the coyotes sing.