Maybe an aster.

Basal foliage? Hirsute?

The entire plant had the same narrow foliage. Are there asters with flower buds like that? Not Anaphalis or Gnaphalium, maybe another genus?

With sunflower family plants like this there are tens of thousands of them - so, yes, the likelihood of finding one that does not belong to a group you are familiar with is high. And fine details of the flower heads in particular is critical to arriving at which specific kind you are looking at - there are even ones that look the same yet aren't even in the same genus.

I'll guess I'll go back in a few days and try to get good pictures of the flower heads. I looked, but didn't see any larger basal foliage. Other stuff out there....

Please get a better shot of any leaves, plus the flowers. For a good, in-focus shot of a flower, you can put your finger or hand beneath the target so the camera will focus to the right distance.

You can always tell somebody that watched way too much Johnny Carson :-)