With my day pack and bear spray (the only hike I carried a bear spray during this trip, since I expected to be alone for many hours), I climbed over the Rockpile Trail looking for Vinit and his tripod. Surprisingly, I found him, among many tripods. Sunrise is behind all the viewers, but the mountains are coated a nice glow just when sun rises. Everyone waited.
7am, I took a photo of the trail map at the poster by the parking lot. Vinit had to take it easy today for his knee. I asked him to pick me up at Lake Louise at 4pm. My silver umbrella will be easy to spot.
The trail goes up steadily (zigzag, not steep) until the larches. Moraine Lake is blocked by trees as you go up, a pity. At 7:45, reached the junction to Eifel Lake / Wenkchemna Pass. Continue right to Larch Valley / Minnestimma Lakes / Sentinel Pass. In less than 10 minutes, you'll break out the trees. Larch here and there. Views grow bigger with each step. There's even a couple of benches under larch trees. 
I really like this plateau/meadow before the push to Sentinel Pass. No more larch trees here. No flowers. More than one tarns, with perfect reflection of the Ten Peaks, when calm. Well maintained and marked trail. I had to put on my thin fleece and rain jacket, due to the breeze. At this hour, half of the meadow was still in the shade. I wish I could camp here (probably not allowed).The trail going up to Sentinel Pass is clear and well trodden. Zigzag over the barren hillside. Narrow, but safe enough. Already people were coming down. I reached Sentinel Pass at 9am.
A fine glimpse of Paradise Valley beyond. Many people here, few huddled in rock walls. 
I was the only one crazy enough to scramble down the north side of the pass. It is the only sketchy part of today's route. Very steep at first, just piles of mostly loose rocks. See the red line on the photo to the right. Trail no longer defined until ~1/3 way down. A cairn here and there. Going up here would be a better choice (hiking in opposite direction). I was able to take a dump in the open with excellent view of the Paradise Valley without worrying about being seen.
At 10:22, I hit Paradise Valley trail. I should have asked for 1 more hour and loop to Horseshoe Meadow and Giant Steps. Turning right towards Paradise Creek TH is more wooded. Yes, larches too. 
More flowers. I actually got confused by succession of signs, and wasted ~20 minutes. On the way down along Paradise Valley, I started to see a handful of hikers, but not nearly as many as south of Sentinel Pass. Lake Annette is quite pretty, has an enticing blue color. However, the trail access doesn't offer a good photo angle. Need to cross-country to its' north end. I saw some guys with horses there. 
Next to Lake Annette is this sign, and 15 minutes later towards Lake Louise direction, I saw this 2nd sign. The numbers don't make sense. 
Then I missed a trail sign (the left turn wasn't obvious), almost hiked out to Paradise Creek. My GPS map had it wrong for Saddle Back trail. Even after I realized that I was on the wrong trail, I still walked back and forth looking for the turn off. This wasted about 30 minutes, and some unnecessary anxiety. Paradise Creek itself is quite nice. A number of well-constructed bridges route you over and back over the creek. I walked over this bridge about 5 times :(
Finally, at 1:20pm, I'm on the right trail going up to Saddle Back. Somewhat steep. Quite some flowers along the trail. However, I was tired, and no longer enjoyed my hike. 
Met a group of 5 in identical T-shirts, who told me that I was not allowed to hike alone (4 minimum), and the fine is $5000. There's no way I would turn around. Once above the trees, the views were pretty good, but cannnot compare with the first half of the hike. When I reached the saddle, saw this bear notice. Ok, why not put one down the valley? 
From then on, I started meeting folks coming up from Lake Louise. No meadowy plateau here. I didn't have time nor interest to go up Saddle Mt or Fairview Mt.~3pm, headed down towards Lake Louise. Can see the town, hwy-1, later the chateau, but not the lake itself.
At exactly 4pm, I was sitting by the promenade among a million tourists. My silver umbrella is the only thing unique.Back in town of Lake Louise, visited the visitor center. Got my refund of Rockwall Trail, inquired about trails in Yoho Valley. The lady there was super nice and patient.
My phone registered 48416 steps today.
