Through the Darkness

From the 10,915-foot summit of Emigrant Peak, serrated mountaintops loom in all directions. Far below, the great Yellowstone River flows among green cottonwood trees as it cuts through Montana’s Paradise Valley. It’s July and the golden-brown landscape surrounding the river corridor appears brittle and thirsty in contrast to the green, irrigated fields nearby. On the summit and facing the wide-open valley stands Lonnie Bedwell…