[I'm new here, hi!]
I own a Carpe Diem and a Novara Randonee, which a steel touring bike along the lines of a Trek 520.
I love the Carpe Diem. Mine is set up as a light tourer/commuter with 36-spoke Mavic T519's and 700x32 Conti TT's, and I commute on it and use it for most of my 50-100 mile road rides as well.
It can be set up any way you want it, including MTB gearing and cranks, bar-cons, etc. But it will still have the tall drop of a cyclocross bike, and the chainstays are still going to be short if you have really big panniers, and Airborne still doesn't offer a good steel touring fork with front rack braze-ons.
So it's really not the best choice for loaded touring, IMO.
I've used my Randonee those few times I've gone off into the wilds on camping trips, and if it had lower gearing it would be perfect. The same would be true of the stock 520, except that I hate bar-cons. I don't agree with the STI-haters; I love STI, and if I were worried about a failure I'd pack some downtube shifters as a backup.
So my answer to your question is I'd pick the Gordon, but I'd wish it had STI shifters. Or I'd pick the 520 and have 'em put a smaller granny on the triple.
RichC