I've done some glaciar hiking, including climbing mt ranier, in my meindl alakans. You can layer wool socks pretty well to bump up your thermal needs. I hunt on the wasatch front in all sorts of weather including snow and ice and all i use is my meindls in different flavors with good socks.
I use a lot of the same boots in hot weather with a different sock setup. Not ideal, but it can be done.
As far as which I like best, or which anybody likes best, it comes down to foot shape in many cases. I'd recommend you try stuff from lowa, meindl, hanwag, raichle, crispi - as many of them as you can get your hands on. Ordering from places like zappos.com or sierratradingpost allow you to try things and send them back if they dont work.
here's a vid i did with many of the suggested boots. It may help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfApS_NRQjg
