Columnist Walks Through Canton Wednesday While Trekking Route 44 on Foot

Though Dan Haar is best known for writing political and financial columns for the Hartford Courant, he’s been turning heads and making headlines lately for trekking Connecticut’s Route 44 on foot.

Haar is eight days into his journey, titled “Explore 44,” which kicked off in Salisbury on the New York state line and will end in Putnam on the Rhode Island line.

As of Wednesday morning, he’d walked the long stretch from the New Hartford line to Dyer’s Tavern, and he’ll continue Wednesday through the rest of Canton.

“It’s tempting when you start a project like this to become an expert on the town and come in and take the pulse of a town and keep walking,” Haar said. “But with 20 towns I’m going to, I’m not going to do that.”

Acknowledging he’s not an expert in Canton town history, Haar did say it’s a place “where sprawl remains the battleground.”

Haar said the defining questions about Canton concern the line between dense suburb and country town and how that changes over time. He pointed out that Canton’s town center sits in suburban areas.

He also praised Canton’s creative community, its intelligent ideas and its “Yankee roots.”

In walking every inch of Route 44, Haar has resolved to pick a few things to write about from each town, while also trying to explore each “character of place,” separate from the character of townspeople.

Explore 44 is one of several pieces this year that will highlight the Connecticut landscape and communities in celebration of the Hartford Courant’s 250th anniversary. Haar originally pitched the idea 16 years ago when a new editor asked for fresh ideas, but it wasn’t until now that the time-consuming project has stepped into motion. And it’s resonating with people.

Haar said about half of what he gets into on the road is planned and researched and half is spontaneously found along the way. His background in business and politics colors his experiences on the road, and he views an area’s cultural developments from the perspective of its industrial history.

“I’m strong on business and politics but weak on trees and rocks,” Haar said, recalling a time he confused a mulberry tree with a blackberry bush along the route. “I’m OK on cultural history, the history of taverns and the history of roads. It’s definitely helpful in understanding towns.”

Haar spent the first five days of the trip living on the road, but as the journey takes him closer to where he lives in West Hartford, he’s been going home at night to eat, write and sleep before returning to the route each morning. He picks up exactly where he left off, sure to follow Route 44 one step at a time. Toward the end of the trip, Haar will live and sleep on the route again.

“The act of physically being out there requires more down time than I anticipated,” Haar said. “I would say I’m learning there’s a limit to how long I can be in character as the guy walking Route 44.”