Paint looks like a 1999.
https://bikepedia.com/QuickBike/Bike...spx?item=86210
I do not know if Trek put bar end shifters on all the years of that era, but my recollection was that they did. The link above also specifies eight speed cassette.
Thus, if that is a 99, I think a previous owner made some upgrades. Rear hub and rear derailer would work with both eight and nine speed systems, thus that upgrade would not have been too costly.
Looks like you got a great deal. The bike looks like it was either well cared for or lightly used, or both. When I look at an extremely lightly used bike, one of the first things I look at to judge wear is if the tires are original and how much wear is on the tires. From your photos I can't tell if the tires are the same model as in the link above.
Older steel frame and aluminum seatpost, make sure they are not stuck together. And you want to keep the seatpost greased so that there is no dissimilar metal corrosion. Also, a greased seatpost makes it less likely that rain can get inside the frame.
If you plan to tour on that, consider putting on a smaller small chainring. A couple decades ago, road triples for touring bikes were common but since then most touring bikes come stock with lower gears for steep hill climbing with a load. It would be easy to reduce the size of that 30T chainring.