Have you tried bar ends? Ergon grips with the bar ends are very good.

I also like trekking bars. My understanding is that they're popular in Europe but not so much in the US. I just installed a set on a 1993 Trek 750 (lugged, full chrome moly frame built in Wisconsin hybrid) I rebuilt a little over a week ago. I already have more than a 100 miles on the bike. Sometimes you build a bike and it just comes out great. This is one of those times. If I do another cross country, I'd think about taking this bike (it is more or less the same frame as a Trek 520 which was Trek's top end touring bike).

I find the contact points on the bike are working great (Brooks B 17 saddle, platform pedals, and trekking bar). The neat thing about the trekking bars is that they give me multiple comfortable hand positions. I think of them as a drop bar squished sort of flat. The flats mimic the tops of my drop bars which I use a lot when riding a drop bar road bike. The curved portions let me stretch out. They're great for cruising and climbing (since I can pull up on the tops). I took these pics on a 50 mile ride with around 1800 ft of climbing I did last Saturday. There were gravel portions on the ride, a few 10 percent climbs, and more than a few twisty rollers so a good test for the bike and the bars.