Aluminum fork seems harsh feeling. Admittedly, i dont know it it would be or not. I rode a cannondale road bike with an aluminum fork for 15mi once and decided against ever doing that again. I might be weak though!

I would go for the nashbar cromo 26" fork thats suspension corrected, a surly fork, or a kona project 2 straight fork.

The surly fork will come with their 3 hole setup to allow for easy and sturdy mounting of salsa anything cages, or something like that. If bikepacking, that versatility could really help.