Sentinel pass to paradise valley

Hello 2 of us in late august are planning on hiking sentinel pass to paradise valley to giant steps. Our shuttle is the 7-8am parks Canada to lake Louise and then jumping straight onto the connector shuttle. Would ideally start the hike at 9am after seeing the rock pile view.

I am reading different opinions on whether it is better to go up or down the north side loose scree of sentinels pass as well as trail finding. I wouldn't mind starting from paradise valley to go into moraine lake however it seems like there is a lot more elevation this way that could be avoided by starting in Moraine lake. We will have trekking poles.

Another concern of mine is the 4 hiker rule for bear safety. How likely is it that we will find a group to tag along with at the top of sentinels pass down into paradise valley on the weekend in late August. We would like to take the side trail to the giant steps where it is prime grizzly territory.

Also the shuttle situation seems easier going out of moraine lake rather than flagging one down from paradise valley parking lot. However I don't see this being a big enough factor to convince me to go up the north side of sentinels pass.

And advice as well as total hiking time would be greatly appreciated