Wildflower ID needed please

What is this? My Audobon guide (western edition) isn't much help. I'm pretty sure it's in the sunflower family but there are several that look similar: sneezeweed? aster? arnica? I confess I don't have a clue and hope you RMNP wildflower experts can help me out. This was shot in the La Sals a couple weeks ago.

Thanks!

I think this is called the Old Man of the Mountains (aka Alpine Sunflower).

No, this is something else. Looks like arnica to me. I'm not sure what it is but it's definitely not old man / Alpine sunflower.

You're right about it being a member of the sunflower family. However, so many species look so similar that it's really difficult to tell without seeing the leaves. Size of the plant is another important factor in making an ID. If you have another photo showing the flower with its leaves, it would definitely help. I can say that it's not an alpine sunflower (Old Man of the Mountain.) From the background of your photo, the habitat is all wrong for an alpine sunflower which loves the tundra. Also, the flower head is not quite right either, petals too long and narrow, and too far off the ground. The "petals" don't look like sneezeweed to me. Sneezeweed has long petals that flair out from the center and then droop downward like fireworks. Looks like the surrounding vegetation is pretty thick indicating a pretty good source of water nearby. I need to seee more in order to be of much help. Good luck with the ID.

Looks like a groundsel, but Phil is right about needing to see more.

Hmm, I'll see if I have a shot with leaves but I was trying to take shots with the ferns as the BG, not their own leaves (guess that will teach me). The plants were about 12-18" high. These were in an aspen grove on the trail right past Oowah Lake. They were quite prolific in the area.

That seems on the tall side for Arnica and the cone shaped cluster of flowers seems taller than most of the arnica I've seen. But the area sounds like a good growing area for them. Like others mentioned the leaves are really helpful in figuring out these plants. I don't think they are asters. I agree that they are definitely not old man of the mountain. I can provide a good example of that flower later. A Sneezeweed would be high on my list of guesses.

Your photo and question has me on the hunt. How big would you say the flowerhead was? Were all four of the flowers branching off the same main stalk. It could be sneezeweed, but I just don't think so, maybe. What elevation (approx) were you?

You've polled the audience. Too bad we can't have a 50-50. Phoned a friend, but he doesn't know a thing about wildflowers. So... Final Answer is
Sneezeweed.