I have a pair of the older Cabela's Silent Stalker sneaker (or some similar name), with a soft dark rubber sole with kind of a tennis shoe chevron pattern. They are gore-tex, which I can take or leave depending on season and weather, but they are very, very quiet and give pretty good support. I try not to send much business to Cabela's, but I wish I had bought 5 of these--that's how much I like them. They have since modified this boot with a much more agressive sole that I know has less ground feel and suspect is noisier.
I've wrestled with the dollar leap to Russell's and need some more support than the PH gives. I sincerely wish Cabela's would bring out that sole again.
One thing I do in a few places, particularly when wearing boots for steep country, is carry those cheap water shoes or whatever they are called. Very light, good ground feel, and they are so soft the flat rubber gives reasonable traction.