This beautiful little plant that grows at high elevations throughout western North America is dwarf alpine Indian paintbrush (Castilleja nana). It is pinkish/purplish and usually doesn't grow more than a few inches high. 
The tops of the cliffs is one location where dwarf alpine Indian paintbrush is found. For more info, click here.
In honor of Fourth of July, here's a bright, patriot-colored flower that looks like trumpets exploding into fireworks. This is scarlet gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata), in the Phlox Family (Polemoniaceae).
The stalk grows 2 to 3 feet high and is decorated with a multitude of flowers. Leaves are small and highly dissected. Crushed flowers reportedly have a strong odor.
I found this colorful member of the Primrose Family (Primulaceae) only on the cliff edge above 10,000 feet on a recent trip to the alpine. It took awhile to find a specimen I could safely photograph. This is Nevada Primrose (Primula cusickiana var. nevadensis).
It's easy to see at first glance that this is a member of the Sunflower Family (Asteraceae) and that it is most likely an Erigeron. A look at the leaves, with their highly divided nature, and the location, above 10,000 feet, makes it easy to narrow this down to alpine daisy (Erigeron compositus). This species often finds little outcroppings in the rock as home.
This pretty flower that likes to grow by the water is actually very poisonous if eaten. It's spotted water hemlock (Cicuta maculata), a member of the Carrot/Parsley Family (Apiaceae). It can grow 3 to 6 feet tall and the leaves are pinnate or doubly pinnate.
The white flowers are found in umbels about six inches across.
A plant sprouting at elevations below 6,700 feet in this area in shrublands, and along streams and ditch banks is American licorice (Glycyrrhiza lepidota), a member of the Pea Family (Fabaceae). It is also called wild licorice, and has a licorice-smell to it and the stems are often sticky. 
The entire plant has been used for medicinal uses (click the link to learn more). The root of American licorice contains 6% glycyrrhizin, a substance 50 times sweeter than sugar. 
A plant with prickly large, clasping leaves and a small yellow family is spiny sow-thistle (Sonchus asper), a member of the Sunflower Family (Asteraceae). It is native to Europe but has spread across North America.
It has only ray flowers, no disk flowers.
