Colorado’s mining history is incredibly rich, and often hidden. This snowshoeing trip earlier this winter brought my wife and I to the Blue Bird Mine, outside of Nederland, Colorado. Miners searched for silver here from the 1870s to the 1960s. This was also a stop on the Denver, Boulder, and Western’s line, and advertised as “The grandest touring route in the world, as good as seeing the Swiss Alps!” I’ve never been to the Alps, but the Rockies are grand indeed.