Hey bud:
Elevation is relative to where you are and the time of year and the amount of hunting pressure. So don't let the other stuff confuse you. Stick to your area and learn it well. If you are hunting the first half of Sept., you need to find where there are clusters of massive and vicious rubs from elk. Not just the get out of bed and rub a tree type of rubs, the thrash the tree to the ground type of rubs. Usually these will be fairly close to or even right at a water source. Bulls need water that time of year, lots of it. Most of the places elk call home are full of water so not always will water be the main factor. Moist cool north facing slopes with wet swampy areas are a good place to start. Look for heavy timber and relatively flat benches that have berry patches near them.
Right about the 15th to the 17th of Sept. there is a transition from pre-rut to the full rut. That's when breeding takes priority over fighting and tree thrashing. Then the activity moves to more open country. In this day of heavy pressure open country could be as little as just more open sparse timber. In less pressured areas they may still go into open meadows for rutting activity. Once a herd bull has his cows he gets very shy about any other bulls and spends his days hiding from and fending off any and all challengers. He would rather run and hide than fight. Thats why calling almost never works on a herd bull. There are ways it works almost every time but I won't go into that. Kind of a trade secret. Suffice it to say calling herd bulls is not a very promising type of hunting.
I am a bit familiar with where you are hunting. I have seen elk most of the way up that road but for the most part it was cows and calves early in the summer. Never saw any in the fall down low. Lots of turkeys there though. And a good number of bears. Near the end of the road there is a jeep trail heading to the east. Pretty much anything to the north of that jeep trail should be pretty good for you. There is a creek about a mile from the road. Work that creek up as high up the mountain as you can get. Look for some of the small tributaries to the creek. Pick the ones that have the flattest terrain and follow them uphill and look for the wallows and the tree rubs. Wallows will work better after about the 17th of Sept. If you find the elk, watch the wind and dog them carefully and quietly. The very seldom watch their back trail if they have not been spooked. Just dog them until the hold up to graze or bed. Once they make a commitment then move in as close as possible and use a cow call on them.
Good luck to you bud.