Ah, the Pacific Crest Trail, a ribbon of beauty and adventure from Mexico to Canada.

If you live most anywhere in the southern two-thirds of California, you probably think of the Sierra Nevada and relative hordes of fellow solitude seekers.

But aim farther north to the Russian Wilderness of Siskiyou County – keep going; it's even north of the Trinity Alps.

Here, nearly six hours' driving time from Sacramento, you'll see few others besides your own trail companions as you enjoy the spectacular scenery.

It's getting a bit late for such a backpacking trek – cooler temperatures are more of a challenge – but a stretch of just over six miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from near the town of Etna to sparkling Paynes Lake is feasible well into October, or it can be a focus of planning for next summer.

A recent trip with five pals into Paynes – six, counting another who arrived earlier over a different route – was a reminder that the Pacific Crest Trail doesn't have to mean the Desolation Wilderness or Yosemite National Park. Nothing against them, but they are more crowded.

That, and you probably don't need a canister to keep bears from your food – in the Russians, they don't seem to have learned how to get a food bag down from a tree.

Through-hikers, trail angels

Our recent Paynes trip included giving five Pacific Crest Trail through-hikers a ride from Etna to the Etna Summit trailhead on Sawyers Bar Road. These hikers, two southbound, three headed north, had been hiking for months from opposite borders. One, a 31-year-old cancer survivor from Maryland with the "trail name" HoJo, admitted he had taken to occasionally eating whole cubes of butter and brown sugar to counter weight loss.

Beyond helping these hikers – and thus becoming "trail angels" – we would see only about 10 more people we didn't know during our Monday-Friday trip.

"I'm surprised how few people we're seeing here, even as opposed to the Alps or Marbles (another wilderness area near the Russians). It's the kind of thing that makes you not want to write a story about it," said Jim Dyar, a musician and journalist from Redding, questioning the value of revealing this place.

Welcome from an expert

Views of other lakes far below the Pacific Crest Trail, and majestic and mysterious Mount Shasta to the east, highlighted the hike into Paynes. We wondered if the 25-miles-a-day PCT hikers take the time to enjoy the panoramas.

Our group – we call ourselves the Beefaloes – was welcomed to Paynes by a handwritten sign left by Leon Nelson, 75, a retired dentist from Redding who has backpacked the Russians, Trinity Alps and Marbles for more than 60 years. Nelson's photographs and trip reports are all over the Internet (Google one of the three wilderness areas above) and Forest Service maps of the areas.

Mostly a solo hiker, he came in two days before us and would stay two days after. He likes Paynes in part because cell phones work there. The calls comfort Nelson and his wife of 54 years, Donna, especially since his stroke 15 years ago.

More than just Paynes

While our main destination was Paynes Lake, it doesn't have to be yours. There are 21 other named lakes in the wilderness area's 12,000 acres, and there are trails other than the Pacific Crest Trail.

Etna Summit sits at 5,960 feet elevation and Paynes Lake is at 6,450 feet in a glacial cirque, so the climb is moderate and there's some downhill both ways. With plentiful campsites amid the boulders and a pretty, sloping meadow at the southwest shore, Paynes is gorgeous.

A quick swim, dinner and a campfire chat under a growing moon were our reward for four hours of hiking in.

On Day 2, a Tuesday, we rested, swam, fished, played an impromptu game of pine cone baseball and embarked on our yearly discussion about maybe – but probably not – backpacking somewhere else.

That night, Thom Gabrukiewicz, a writer who traveled from Sioux Falls, S.D., for the trip, made a spicy shrimp- and-pasta dish that went fast.

We marveled at how fast the now-full moon danced across a ridge above the lake.

A diversion higher up

Day hikes are a must here, and the Albert Lakes (Alber on some maps) are a fine goal and reward. On Day 3, some of us first embarked on an unsuccessful attempt to find an old road coming up from the nearby Scott Valley. Nelson eventually located it, solo; the rest of us returned to camp and then set out for the Alberts, nestled in a higher granite cirque.

If you go to the Alberts, stay on the trail along the north side of Paynes, then follow the rock cairns and the Alberts' outlet creek upward. Tiny, horseshoe-shaped Upper Albert sits at 7,150 feet, for a nice climb and views.

We reckoned Wednesday's hikes totaled six steep miles and I had a grapefruit for a left knee. No pine cone baseball Thursday. A book filled the time just fine. The wind came up late. It got down to 39 degrees.

Must … have … beer

After four nights of sleeping on the ground, filtering water and eating mostly dehydrated food, Friday was all about reaching Etna. We covered the six-plus miles in under 3 1/2 hours, thinking of tasty burgers, world-class microbrews, an old-fashioned soda fountain, friendly servers and indoor (well, any) plumbing.

Back at the trailhead, Judy Silva of Mount Shasta had a clipboard. She was working a survey for the National Visitors Use Monitoring Program, a project of Penn State and West Virginia universities. Our responses to her questions about our experience were overwhelmingly positive, especially the ones about how few people we'd seen.

I asked Silva how busy she'd been. One solo PCT hiker had come through in the three hours she'd been there, she reported.

Which reinforced why we love the place.

In Etna, a 10-mile drive and a half-hour later, it seemed a crowd was strolling the Old West main street. Was it our days of solitude that made a dozen or so other humans seem like a throng?

Lounging and lunching on the Etna Brewing Co. patio, we were sore but feeling pretty good. In walked Red Lash Folsom – the trail name of through-hiker Scott Peters, 30, of Seattle, formerly of Iowa. He'd hitched a ride down from Etna Summit a few minutes after we drove down and he seemed a bit bewildered by civilization. He was 85 days on the PCT and rail-thin.

"They don't have mountains in Iowa," Peters reported.

I bought him a glass of stout, and he savored the aroma for 10 seconds before taking a sip. Gabrukiewicz paid for his lunch.

A half-hour later the Beefaloes were at nearby Scott Valley Drug, where Norman Rockwell meets Dodge City. We figured we'd earned our double ice cream cones after burgers and beers.

The red-bearded Peters ambled in, ordered an ice cream soda and shuddered with anticipation as Becky Carlson handed it across the marble counter.

"The people in Etna get it," said Gabrukiewicz, "that by catering to through-hikers and people who come and go through the wilderness, they're sending out a calling card across the nation, if not the world."

My money says the Beefaloes stick to their usual range.

BACKPACKING TIPS AND GEAR RECOMMENDATIONS

Leon Nelson, 75, of Redding has been backpacking for more than 60 years, most of it in the Trinity Alps, Marble Mountain and Russian wilderness areas in the far northwestern corner of California. Known to many on the trail as Tarpman because he won't use a tent, whatever the weather, he loves talking about gear. We encountered him at Paynes Lake in the Russians recently and asked him for a few ideas, including a couple for the cooler weather soon to come.

Here's some of his advice.

IF YOU GO DURING THE COOL-DOWN AHEAD

• Wear one or two lightweight balaclavas while sleeping to maintain body warmth. This allows the top of the head to be slightly exposed while in the sleeping bag, for easier comfortable breathing.

• A vapor-barrier liner will increase the comfort range of your sleeping bag by 15 degrees. So with a VBL, a 45- degree bag will be comfy down to 30. The VBL also prevents perspiration, which can be as much as a pint a night, from being trapped in the bag.

GENERAL TIPS

• Take care of your feet. You can put duct tape over an area before a blister forms. Don't put it over a blister, though – use moleskin. Aquaphor moisturizing cream, applied daily, will sooth cracked, dry feet.

• Wigwam Thermax liner socks are durable and economical, and since they're polyester they dry very quickly. Wear two pairs for more padding in boots.

• Duct tape! Wrap a couple of feet around your hiking stick. It comes in handy.

• Use Kelty "Triptease" cord. It's lightweight, does not stretch, holds knots well, is easy to untie and has reflective thread so it's easy to see at night.

• Have a cotton bandanna near. Keep it in a plastic bag in your pocket to use for drying hands after you clean your fish and rinse your hands.

• Shoe Goo is indispensable – not just for shoes. For example, this waterproof sealant repairs cracks and holes in Nalgene and Platypus collapsible water bottles, and reinforces corners and bottoms of these bottles.

• Safety pins are valuable items. And a single metal shower curtain hanger is a great way to keep them handy. Use safety pins to hang rinsed clothes to dry or to suspend a flashlight or headlamp.

• Three plastic trash bags overlapped and anchored with small rocks work well as an inexpensive ground cloth beneath your sleeping bag and pad, bivy sack or tent.

– Tom SellersBEFORE, AFTER THE TRAIL

Places to eat, sleep and buy groceries in Etna are all within a few blocks of each other in the tiny incorporated city's core. Enjoy the stroll.

DINE

• Bob's Ranch House: (530) 467-5787

• Country Bakery: (530) 467-3525

• Etna Brewing Co.: http://etnabrew.net, (530) 467-5277

• Dotty's: (530) 467-3303

• Etna Deli & Pizza: (530) 467-3429

• Out Back BBQ: (530) 467-5899

• Scott Valley Drug (ice cream): www.scottvalleydrug.com, (530) 467-5335

• Wildwood Crossing: (530) 467-5544

SLEEP

• Alderbrook Manor bed and breakfast: www.alderbrookmanor.com, (530) 467-3917

• Alderbrook Manor's Hiker's Hut, for hikers, bikers and others looking for basics: www.alderbrookmanor.com/ hikershut.htm, (530) 467-3917

• Motel Etna: (530) 467-5338

• Hughes House Bed & Breakfast: (530) 467-5425

PROVISIONS

• Ray's Food Place: (530) 467-5235

SOMETHING FUN IN TOWN

• Scott Valley Bluegrass Festival (third weekend of July) www.scottvalleybluegrass.com, (530) 467-4144

View Hike to Paynes Lake along Pacific Crest Trail in a larger map

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Call The Bee's Tom Sellers, (916) 321-1047.

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