Larch Valley | Sentinel Pass

Ashley MacGillivray
Oct 19, 2021
2 min read

Updated: Mar 14, 2023

Hiking in Autumn in one of the most gorgeous valleys in the Canadian rockies.

The Drive

I always make sure the day before a big hike to make sure up to date on the trail with things like how long the hike is, what the trail conditions are & how fast Parking fills up. With hikes like Larch Valley that are a tourist attraction AND have multiple hikes off the same trail it's important to make sure you know when you need to arrive.

For example from reading trail reviews on all trails & asking fellow hikers I learned that I needed to leave an hour earlier then I had thought to get parking.

Moraine Lake also has a shuttle you can take if you're not one who wants to get there hours before the sunrises but in peak travel times like when the larches are their stunning yellow colour the buses sell out weeks in advance.

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” - Van Gogh

The Hike

After arriving to the parking lot I enjoyed the stars though the clouds while Blake caught a little bit of sleep. Just before sunrise we hiked up the rock pile and had some breakfast. shortly after the first light illuminated the mountains we headed back down & towards our trail head.

Little over two hours & we were fully immersed in the larch trees. We broke for lunch a little ways off the path away from all the people. By this little creek we enjoyed our lunch before continuing on to the to the end of the valley.

The wind picked up quite a bit & we decide not to summit. So we enjoyed one last look before making our way back down the trail