55 is an OTC tag, has been for the 20+ years I been hunting CO. You do need to read the regs carefully. There are many parts to CO laws, point restrictions, legal equipment, tagging proceedures and they make changes every year. The new regs will be out soon[Late Feb.]. You can hunt any OTC unit with an OTC tag.
Altitude:I wouldn't watse too much time at 7000-8000 feet[not that you will find much of that elevation in 471], go up
I would make 9000 to 9500 base elevation and hunt up from there. Two reasons for that, 1 food sources and 2 heat. General rule is that elk can take more cold than heat. So to avoid warm temps they do two things, steep dark timbered slopes or high elevation. The lower slopes are always cooler if a creek is near by[HINT]! The timberline area is the most fun to hunt in my book. Watching elk be elk is amazing. The steep timberline slopes offer great food sources, cold water and good cover and thermals to keep the elk cool and less BUGS to bother them. You are going to get a very good education.
Gselkhunter