Full blast spring cleaning

Workers in protective gear on top of Grand Coulee Dam get inundated with dust as they sandblast a lowered drum gate Friday. The gates hold back Lake Roosevelt when it's close to full, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation takes advantage of lower lake levels to get some maintenance done. The lake was at about 1,249 feet above sea level at this point, following a curve similar to last year but a little lower, earlier, and about at the average low point in early May. "Full pool" is 1,290 when these drum gates are all the way up. - Scott Hunter photo