Prospecting
Aubby and Clara, the main characters of this short story, see themselves as "prospectors." They both grew up with stories of the gold rush in North America told to them by their fathers. Aubby's father killed himself as a result of gambling on dog-racing; Clara's father owned and ran a hotel whose business stemmed from capitalizing on a local myth about a cryptozoic creature living in the water nearby.
So both men sought to make their fortune from figurative sources—not from selling their physical labour like the CCC workers or mining gold but from knowledge and luck. This mirrors the experience of a prospector: these men made their money from lucky finds, from "magic metal . . . a hundred grand richer in a single hour." These girls are making their money and fortune off their social labour: being used by men as "gloating mirrors."
Parties
It is significant that Clara and Aubby happen upon a lavish party of dead workers. The party is a symbol for the failing fortunes of the men who were trapped, and it is also a reflection of the girls' fading fortunes as social prospectors. Usually, the girls would leave parties with Clara's "magic satchel that seemed to expand with our greed" full of stolen goods.
Once winter hit, however, their "mining prospects dimmed considerably." So the dead workers' party ending—as well as the men being re-buried under their avalanche—is an ominous sign that perhaps these girls' parties will soon come to an end. This is reflected again in that they can only steal the golden bird, who then flies away. Perhaps the girls' freedom from the social labour of working these parties will be worth the loss of stolen goods.
I have linked to an interview with the author about this story. This may give you further insight into the story's themes and symbolism.
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/fiction-this-week-karen-russell-2015-06-08
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/08/the-prospectors
The story has several themes. One has do do with the nature of friendship. Aubby and Clara come to understand their relationship in a far deeper way through their experience at the lodge. Another theme would be the uses of femininity in society: while Aubby and Clara are plainly grifters using their beauty to entice and victimize older men, it is also true that they are victims as well. A third theme would be the difference between appearance and reality; not only are Aubby and Clara playing ”parts,” both for the men they are trying to deceive and each other, but the whole episode at the ghost lodge calls into question the “reality” of their lives on the road.
Most of the features of the story can be thought of symbolically. For instance, the girls’ trip up the mountain to the ghost lodge is a kind of inverted trip into the underworld; Aubby and Clara can be seen as types of Orpheus and Eurydice. But the two that stand out are Clara’s blue bruises and, of course, the yellow bird at the end. The bruises, ”brilliant pansy-blue,” cover Clara’s arms; we never know how these happened, and it is characteristic of the limits of their relationship that Aubby “could not bring herself” to ask. Instead, she offers Clara her sweater. Aubby is “amazed”—“a covering so thin could erase her bruises.” The bruises, ironically like “pansies,” might represent the dysfunction of Clara’s family, or some other abuse at the hands of men; this is a stark reality for the wealthy and beautiful Clara, and Aubby’s sweater is a cheap but effective coverup or defense, much like their decision to run away and become “prospectors” in the west. Aubby’s gift of the sweater is at once an act of fellow feeling and a sort of costume: when Clara wears it, “You couldn’t tell anything was wrong now.”
It’s at the lodge, surrounded by dozens of ghost men all vying for their attention, that Aubby realizes how she has used Clara. Of course, the situation at the lodge is symbolic of the subterfuge the girls themselves practice as “prospectors.” This sort of turning of the tables makes it possible for Aubby to understand that she has used Clara as “bait” with men. Aubby is horrified; her apology “blossoms” like the pansy-blue bruises on Clara’s arms. Clara’s determination, though, enables the girls to escape before they are “captured” on film by the photographer, symbolic of the devil (or simply death), and it is she who steals the one thing that can be stolen from the lodge—the bird, which represents life, their love, forgiveness; in distinction to the ghostly nature of the lodge/underworld, the bird represents whatever is real in their relationship.
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