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hamrack
To be more explicit it comes down to power-to-weight ratio and cadence. I think you're right that nearly anyone can get up nearly any hill on a ~1:1 ratio, but riding up a hill for 30 minutes at 60 RPM and high power will stress your muscles (which will accumulate over time on a tour) and increase the likelihood of an injury. So I would rather crawl up it at 100W and 100 RPM personally. Weight is already a non-issue on touring bikes so there's not really much of a downside to having the extra chainring or cassette teeth IMO, after all you don't have to use them if you don't feel like it
But if it works for you that's fine, I would just say that it's not the most
practicalfunctional option that exists