The expert consensus statement is not primarily aimed at “normal circumstances” but at circumstances of prolonged exercise in heat, such hot weather Ironman events, ultamarathons, or R2R type activities. They are aware however that less significant events have also had EAH occur as the hydrate early and often with no regard to thirst became such entrenched bro-science.
So per that expert consensus statement if someone is very very thirsty because they have been sweating lots and drinking a lot to satisfy that thirst but not exceeding it, they are at low risk of either hyponatremia or significant dehydration, whether they are eating much or not. Of course one should still eat during an R2R and some salty foods like pretzels, nuts, and beef jerky (carbs and protein) as snacks seem to me to make for some reasonable sense. And nothing wrong with sports drinks. Just nothing magical or all that scientific either. Drinking sports drinks is not a replacement for the single most important item - listening to your thirst both as the cue to drink and to its satisfaction as the cue to stop drinking.
If someone is very very thirsty and so drinking a lot and not eating enough to satisfy hunger (as might well happen when backpacking the Grand Canyon), then they should drink when thirsty and stop drinking when not. That is the most effective and safest response to worrying about salt/potassium and about hydration.