A cold lake, a sunny rock and a sandwich you made in the kitchen that morning: lunch tastes better at 6,500 feet. Hiking is one of my favorite ways to spend a day here, and plant-based trail food is the easy part. Here are four lake hikes near Etna, what to pack for each, and what late October asks of you.
The lake lunch formula
Pack it the night before, or over the first coffee of the morning.
Something sturdy on good bread. A loaf from Farmhouse Bakery or the weekend sourdough at Sugar Magnolia's Farmstand & Bakery (ask which breads are dairy and egg free) stands up to hummus, roasted vegetables and greens, or peanut butter and sliced apple. Pack an avocado whole and slice it at the lake.
A grain salad in a jar. Rice or farro with beans, chopped vegetables, lemon and olive oil. It only gets better by lunch.
Snacks for the climb. Roasted nuts and seeds, dried fruit, apples, and dark chocolate (check the label for milk).
Something warm. Coffee and tea are included at the house, so fill a thermos before you go.
Pick up the basics at Ray's, the town grocery, and bring your favorite trail bars from home.
Four lakes, four lunches
Taylor Lake: the long lunch
Taylor Lake. About 13 miles from Etna by Sawyers Bar Road and Forest Road 41N18, then a 0.6-mile round trip with 50 feet of gain. The path is wheelchair accessible, and the lake sits at about 6,500 feet in the Russian Wilderness. A walk this short means you can bring the whole spread: a blanket, the grain salad, the thermos, the good bread. It's the shortest walk to the longest lunch.
Hogan Lake: earn the sandwich
Hogan Lake. From the Taylor Lake trailhead, 3.0 miles round trip with about 1,500 feet of gain. Pack lighter: a sandwich and an apple each, and a bag of trail mix for the top.
Paynes Lake: the big day
Paynes Lake on the Pacific Crest Trail. Start at Etna Summit (5,956 feet), 10.5 miles up the road from Etna. It's 11.3 miles round trip with about 2,230 feet of gain, and it's hard. Near 7,200 feet the views open to Smith Lake and Mount Shasta. Pack two lunches' worth of snacks, extra water and a headlamp, because late-October days are short. The trail is hikeable until the first snow. Our drives guide covers the road up.
Kangaroo Lake: the easy morning
Kangaroo Lake. About 17 miles from Callahan, with a 1.1-mile out-and-back walk whose first quarter mile is paved and wheelchair accessible. The road closes with snow, so check it before you go.
Kangaroo Lake at golden hour. Photo: Inklein, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Not a hiking day? The cold creek pools up the mountain are about 11 minutes from the house, and the same lunch works there.
Water, layers and late-October snow
Water. Carry everything you plan to drink, plus a filter or treatment for anything you take from a lake or creek.
Layers. Mornings up high are cold, even on a bright day. Bring a warm layer, a hat, gloves and a rain shell, and save a dry layer for lunch, when you stop moving and cool down fast.
Snow. Snow is possible at Taylor Lake in late October. When it comes, it closes the road to Kangaroo Lake and decides access at Etna Summit. Check conditions before you drive up, and turn around if the road looks wrong.
The fire order and Leave No Trace
A Klamath National Forest fire order runs from Sep 9 to Oct 30, 2026. Campfires are allowed only at listed sites and in the wildernesses, and you need a California Campfire Permit even for a stove. For a day hike, the simple answer is no flame at all: a cold lunch and a hot thermos.
Leave No Trace does the rest. Pack out everything you carry in, peels, cores and nut shells included. Picnic on rock or bare ground instead of lakeshore plants, stay on the trail, and keep your trail mix to yourself, however hard the squirrels lobby.
Good to know
The Klamath National Forest fire order runs through Oct 30, 2026. Check current restrictions before you go.
The first snow can come any time from late October and can close the roads to the high lakes.
It's hunting season in the mountains around the valley. Wear a bright layer on the trail.
Days are short: start early, and carry a headlamp on the longer hikes.
From Etna, Etna Summit is 10.5 miles and Taylor Lake about 13. Kangaroo Lake is about 17 miles from Callahan.
Come home to the wood stove and a warm kitchen. See open dates and prices for your stay at Blossom Sanctuary, and join the Orbit for letters from the house. The welcome gift is 20% off a first stay booked on our website.