How can I create a path auto pattern token based on a menu path without placing node in menu?
With the use of the Menu Reference module and hook_pattern_alter, I was able to get this accomplished. The code piece ended up looking like:

function custom_paths_pathauto_pattern_alter(&amp;$pattern, array &amp;$context) {
  if (isset($context['type']) &amp;&amp; $context['type'] == 'news_article' &amp;&amp; isset($context['data']['node']) &amp;&amp; !$context['data']['node']-&gt;menu['enabled'] &amp;&amp; $context['data']['node']-&gt;field_menu_path['und'][0]['mlid']) {
    $menuitem = menu_link_load($context['data']['node']-&gt;field_menu_path['und'][0]['mlid']);
    $menupath = drupal_get_path_alias($menuitem['link_path']);
    $pattern = $menupath . '/[node:title]';
  }
}