Thanks DJB. I would like just a touch lower gearing, but alas I have this and at the moment don't want to go to a double up front, or a 12 speed out back (would need new shifting system). I've used this setup in gravel for northern Georgia and it works well on those very steep gravel roads. Got almost 8,000 miles on my old Supremes without issue and had tons left on them, but they felt like they were getting brittle. Hopefully these will hold up well, as they only have about 1,000 or so on them and no signs of wear.

if it works for you with that load, then great and that's all that matters.
I've ridden 2in Supremes on some long trips, month, two , three months with really no issues. Last summer one of my old ones started getting a weird hop in it, but heck it had been ridden half way though Mexico, down through Central America to Costa Rica, across France and other small trips, so it didn't owe me a damn thing.
I just like how they ride, and the 42mm ones like I said are very light and a bit faster than the 2in ones, but with the same really nice ride quality.
Have fun on the trip you have planned.
For the future, there are some nice doubles out there, 40/26 or thereabouts that are super versatile.
I personally prefer a higher top gear also, a bit past 100 gear inches is my preference, so that I can spin up to a bit over 50kph, 30mph and nicer for the few times we get good tailwinds and can bike along for a while at 30-35kph.

show a photo sometime, would be fun to see it.

Changed my mind and went with a 10-50 cassette 12-speed (34 tooth front) and now drop to 18.9 gear inches on the low end and up to 94.7 on the high end. Also, going back to my lowrider panniers up front.

Well that's one of the things with bike tinkering, it's fun to just do different stuff and change your mind.
Same with bars, I've had fun getting different bars and trying them out and either selling them again or slapping them on one of my other bikes.
It's all good
A 10-50 is pretty neat how it covers such a wide range and especially the 10 giving a good jump in high gear compared to an 11t

10-50 for a cassette, that gives you a 500 percent range. For touring, I like a wider range. My light and medium touring bikes have a range of 558 percent, my heavy touring bike is 526 percent. But if you are really sold on having a 1X system, then you have a great range with that cassette.

There are a sizeable number of people that prefer a lot of weight on the front, so the front low riders make some sense.

Photo below, I met someone from Japan going around the world, I met him in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Such an unusual setup, I had to take a photo. I think this is the most extreme example of heavy load up front for touring that I have ever seen.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ab25924dce.jpg

Yup, he had enormous front panniers, giant handlebar bag, and a big Ortlieb duffle on back, but no rear panniers. And friction downtube shifters.

Second photo, his rear rack:

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6fb5a3f6ce.jpg

I think that is a front rack that he mounted on back.

He had already made his way from Japan to west coast of North America, and ridden from there to the west end of Lake Ontario with that bike, so it clearly was working well for him.

Yikes! That is loaded up front! Like you said, it's working for him. I'm so picky I'd be bothered by it mentally too much :). My front carry isn't very heavy with a bike packing tent, lightweight 10 degree bag, pillow, bug head net, lightweight Thermarest, and rain pants and jacket. Total weight is 7 pounds including panniers (excluding the rack). I have not finalized my rear bag carry items yet so I'm not sure how much that is. We are in such nice weather I sometimes forget that I need to bring a few extra items to stay comfortable and warm. Went on the edge of comfortable a few too many times like hiking in the Rockies with 16 pounds including food and water. Got hit at 10,000 feet by a rain and hail storm that lasted a long time and I was chilled and thankful I didn't get wet, otherwise I'd have been in trouble (3 days hike to "civilization").

I have Lone Peak panniers up front for the moment, but Ortlieb gravel panniers on the way to try out. The Peaks are bright red which I like, but they are not waterproof and are a touch on the older side. The Ortliebs I like for their more secure attachment to the Tubus Duo front rack.

The new gearing is very nice and just gives me a nice bail out gear down low in the 52 and a few extra miles per hour up top in the 10 (94.7 gear inches to 18.9). I ordered from the local Trek shop and had them do the installation. Perfectly done and saved me a ton of fiddling and time. The new Sram shifter and derailleur is very smooth. A little testing yesterday indicated about 2.5 mph spinning pretty good and maybe 3 mph and spun out in the 34x50. That's okay, as there always seems to be a time when you say to yourself that you wished to have just one more gear!

Completed a 30 mile ride today at about full weight and everything feels great. I need to get started before I plan and adjust anything else!

thats a LOT of front load and a LOT of back load. with a LOW TRAIL fork front load is fun! maybe with the bike above less fun and more work for the arms. ;)

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...88d17ea6cc.jpg

The above setup was first trial, just a one week trip to visit friends via train, no camping gear. Just after conversion from 1X folder to 2X, amazing difference, now 400% range, all added range was low, 50/34 x 11-30 x 20"/406, 21-85 gear inches (I agree, don't need a higher gear, I have just enough to pedal down mild downgrade, steeper and I'll coast), but I may need a touch lower low if touring heavy and long hills. Fat seat tube prevents 3X crank, I'd go with a larger low on the cassette.

For this trip, I put daily food in shopping bag hung from the aero bar which sat flat on the top deck of the minimal brake post rack in front, see pic.

For minimal additional space, the OP might also use a "front block adapter" that clamps around the head tube and provides a Brompton or Dahon style front block for rack mount; What's nice about those is that the mass is not steered, but stays fixed. Some put their whole trip bag there, but on the OP bike, that might interfere with the handlebars and bag there. (On 20" folders, the space between the front wheel and handlebars is HUGE, a bonus for cargo. I've hauled there, a boxed, folded frame for same bike, quite a large box, that was lashed to (steered) fork rack and tall handlepost.)

My front panniers usually get my more dense type stuff. Sometimes my front panniers weigh almost as much as the rear. But some of that weight is strapped on top. I usually store my rain gear on top of my front panniers. My Ortlieb Front Roller panniers (I think they now are called Sport Rollers) have a strap over the top and I use that strap to hold my rain gear where it is really easy to get to fast if I suddenly need it.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...cb849b260f.jpg

Good tip. One in return: I discovered that UV-degradable sensitive fabrics, when stored in the open like that, will get damaged. My nylon hiking pants fell apart. (Later polyester ones are better.) So anything that is exposed to the light outside the bags, I like to put in lightweight stuff or sausage bags, which are often nylon, but cheap to replace. I use same inside my backpack/panniers for organization, so usually buy them in a group assortment of sizes and colors for economy.