Photos: One Last Trip for High-Country Cutthroats

Written by: Jon Hill

Big Rio Grande cutthroats are a fine reward for the sometimes arduous trip up to 12,000 feet.
Photos by Jon Hill

I took one last trip to 12,000 feet this past weekend. Kurt, James, and Steve accompanied me into Colorado’s Sangre De Cristo Wilderness to chase Rio Grande cutthroat trout. The afternoons were spent hanging out under pine trees waiting out the rain-and-hail storms and the nights dipped down into the mid 30’s, but the Rio Grande cutts were out in full force. It’s always a good time hanging out in the Rocky Mountains and catching trout, no matter what mother nature throws at you.

Jon Hill lives in Littleton, Colorado and works in the digital-graphics field. But he spends almost all his spare time chasing trout in the high country, and his photos have been featured many times on the Orvis News. (See here, here, and here, for just a taste, or visit his blog, Ramblings.) He’s also a former Trout Bum of the Week.

The peaks of the Sangre De Cristo Wilderness, in south-central Colorado.
Photos by Jon Hill

The author shows off another gorgeous cutthroat.
Photos by Jon Hill

When the weather cooperated, the fish did, too, as this double demonstrates.
Photos by Jon Hill

You don’t run into much angling pressure at this altitude.
Photos by Jon Hill

The colors of the Rio Grande cutts can be spectacular.
Photos by Jon Hill