LIST
Day 1 - 2012-08-06
Day 1 of the trip; fairly relaxed.
First day out at GNP was fairly relaxed during the day. We did a little hiking and took a Red Bus "wildlife tour" in the afternoon through Glacier National Park, Inc. I found out from my Dad they fill up fast, he called in two weeks in advance and found a day that still had seats available. It isn't cheap either, but definitely worth it.

The Red Buses have a canvas top that was rolled back but is put down during the day or when it is wet out. The guide will let you stand up to take photos when the bus isn't moving. The buses used to have wooden frames but were relatively recently retrofitted with a V6 and a modern metal chasis. Above that, they're still pretty much the original buses created for the park service. Strangely, they also only have doors on one side of the bus (save for the driver's door). They're also grandfathered in as they're a few inches longer/wider than the currently allowed limits for vehicles on the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

The park service also runs some busses on the west side of the park, but not for tours. They're white and small ones that can go up on Going-to-the-Sun Road hold ~12 people. They ferry people between all the stops on the way up to Logan Pass (the very top) and the same stops going back down again. Waits were 15 to 30 minutes in either direction, the longer times due to construction which reduced the mountain road to one lane in one area. Larger busses holding more people ferried folks around the lower part of the park. These busses are free to use, and you can park your vehicle at Apgar Transit Center's large parking lot get water and use their facilities before being transported around the park. Saves driving through the park yourself as parking is limited in many places inside the park along Going-to-the-Sun Road.