In any case, by now the deer and elk in the areas you're considering will long since have left the high mountains and will be down in the lowlands. You won't be that far from a road. Even if you're looking at early next fall (before the snow really starts to accumulate in October), if your hunt is successful you'll be making several trips out with the meat. No way can anyone carry 100+ lbs. of meat plus winter camping gear. That's why most elk hunters pack with horses.

The 4 1/2 lb. pack that Andrew Skurka used in the list I linked to is a freighter frame with separate (detachable) pack bag. You won't want to use an internal frame or the normal external frame (which has a permanently attached pack bag). (You can click on the items in the gear list to see what they're like.) His gear, IMHO, looked really good, although I'd personally want a heavier rifle (like a 30-06). Unfortunately, this was his first hunt and he didn't do any scouting or study of elk habits ahead of time, so the score was, as he puts it, Elk 1, Skurka 0.

Gershon, a small hatchet is really useful for butchering large game to cut through the bones (particularly the breastbone). I agree about leaving the shovel behind, though--the ground will probably be frozen!