We went on a short hike today, above Lopez Lake, about 10 miles inland on Highway 227 from Pismo Beach.

California is suffering through a drought of historical proportions, and it is particularly noticeable here in San Luis Obispo County, where the hills often remain green right through the summer.

(As opposed to Southern California, where the hills and mountains go brown every year.)

The drought, now in its third year, has led to water rationing and mandatory cutbacks on watering lawns.

When we got to Lopez Lake, we saw why that should be.

In my daughter’s California Hiking guide book, the “Blackberry Trail” hike of about an hour above Lopez Lake was described as a “2” (on a scale of 10) in difficulty but a 10 in beauty.

However, unless you find dead and brown foliage deeply appealing, the hike probably should rate about a 5, at the moment.

In normal times, it would be a fairly steep climb through thickets of green bushes (including blackberry, presumably), shaded by occasional oaks (still there, thankfully), with overlooking views of the cool, blue water of Lopez Lake at various vantage points.

As it stands, Lopez Lake has shrunk to 38.5 percent of capacity for what is effectively a reservoir for drinking water in several cities, including Pismo Beach, where we are staying.

(And being next to an ocean always limits a person’s ability to take a drought seriously.)

So, those views of cool, clear water? They have become flat fields of grass or small bushes, most of them also gone brown.

The marina, where pleasure boats can be launched, shows docks far below previous shore levels. You have to wonder if the boats will be left high and dry sometime soon.

Unlike much of Southern California, most of the state, from Santa Barbara north, depends on annual rainfall and local reservoirs to replenish wells and reservoirs. Los Angeles, which is located in a semi-arid area, gets water from the Colorado River and via pipelines from the Sacramento River.

Not so in SLO, which depends on rainfall.

Unless or until the heavens open and deliver quite a bit of rain, Lopez Lake may rate a “10” for “bringing home the dimensions of the drought” but nothing like it for scenery.