I wouldn't go for the carbon fork, but thats just me. I would be afraid of it failing if I hit a large bump or pothole but I'm parinoid about those things. I would recommend the salsa casseroll it looks like about what you want and a really nice all around bike and comes with some nice stuff so I wouldn't change the parts. I don't have experience with this, but I've heard people say that bikes ride bad if you load them up much in the back with nothing in the front. The cross check would also probably fit your needs. I wouldn't completely forget about a regular touring bike the the lht or rocky mountain sherpa though.