Originally Posted by bmike
Personally I'd go XC - I had a dedicated tourer (a Trek 520) that I recently sold as I never really got into it. The CC gives you lots of options for rigging the bike, gears or no, racks, fenders, wide tires. I love mine. Currently running it FG, and I have thought about lite touring on it with my Carradice saddlebag and a handlebar bag.
I also vote for the crosscheck. Load it up for the long haul, rear rack and fenders for the city, strip it down for centuries, fix or singlespeed it, ride it on fireroads and XC trails.
The LHT is optimized for touring, but the crosscheck is a swiss army bike.
If you are lightweight touring or touring between hostels, don't bother with rear specific panniers. Just get 4x front panniers.