Sat, Oct 1 2016, Sun, Oct 2 2016 - Sentinel Pass Day Hike and more (View Original Event Details)
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Day one: We travelled a long ways from Edmonton to reach Lake Louise. On a rainy and snowy cold day the best option is to hike up to a couple of tea houses. We started the trek up to Lake Agnes. The tea house up here was busy but it was well worth the stop for some hot tea and hummus sandwiches. The crowds were non-existent after this point. The views from Big Beehive were incredible. If it wasn't snowing we would have ventured further up the Devil's Thumb. We continued our trek along the Highline trail and onto the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea house. There, we pulled out a stove to heat up water for a much needed hot drink. A big thank you to the staff at Six Glaciers for lending us a few tea cups!! We continued further up the Glacier lookout.
Our hike back ended up being in darkness with occasional glimpses of lightening flashes. Our eyes adjusted slowly to the dark but it was a great experience for the senses. We hardly ever do night walks under the moonlight. What a treat that was!
Total elevation gain: 700 mTop elevation: 2270 m
Total distance:16.8 kms Day two: Sentinel pass, larch valley and a spectacular view of the ten peaks. The larches are shedding their needles. Small remnants of golden specs still remain on a few trees. The yellow that once dominated the treed landscape has now spread and scattered along the ground throughout the valley. A blanket of snow is the most dominant feature now. The weather improved considerably. We travelled an hour from Canmore to reach Moraine Lake. The parkade was full resulting in us turning back to find an odd pull out spot along the road. The parking situation expended our trek considerably from 12 to 16kms. At the trail head a large sign heeds to grizzly warnings and indicates that it is the law to travel in groups of 4 or more through the area. We didn't have to wait long before a group of two arrived. Laura and Kaleb were more then happy to join up with us on our full day trek. They've been hiking for a number of years now and have travelled from Calgary to complete the hike. The climb starts immediately through forested switchbacks and ends up levelling at the larch valley. The valley allows for incredible views and plenty of opportunities for exploring further. The final stretch up the steep gravel switchbacks took us over an hour. Snow was scattered on the trails near the top of the pass and was packed down into ice in some sections. Traversing the area overlooking Paradise Valley would have been a dangerous endeavour due to the snow and ice. Perhaps in the summer months a climb down into Paradise Valley through Sentinel Pass would be a great extension to this trip.
Total elevation gain: 732 m
Top elevation: 2611 m
Distance: 16 km (includes walk to car)
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Mark G at photos@edmontonoutdoorclub.com. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to thirty of your favourites (only) for a day event, or up to sixty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.