Theater Artist Tess Rowan Releases Audio Documentary FIELD NOTES: A LONG TRAIL ODYSSEY on Earth Day
Audio documentary captures a 272-mile journey along America’s oldest long-distance hiking trail.
Field Notes: A Long Trail Odyssey will be released on April 22, 2026, inviting listeners into an immersive audio experience inspired by a thru-hike of Vermont’s Long Trail. Created by theater artist Tess Rowan, the 45-minute documentary blends environmental sound, interviews, and personal narration to explore themes of conservation and community.
“I wish the world were more like the trail,” one hiker told Rowan during interviews conducted along the route in June 2025. The project draws from Rowan’s journey hiking the 272-mile trail, where she recorded footsteps, birdsong, shelter conversations, and the rhythms of daily trail life.
Developed with support from an NYU Tisch Drama Community Engaged Theatre Summer Grant and the Green Mountain Club, the piece documents encounters with fellow hikers and caretakers while reflecting on the challenges and rewards of long-distance hiking. The work centers on both the physical experience of the trail and the community that sustains it.
The documentary will be available on streaming platforms beginning Earth Day. Listeners are encouraged to experience the piece while walking outdoors.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Tess Rowan completed her thru-hike of the Long Trail in June 2025, earning the trail name “Storyteller.” She first engaged with long-distance trail storytelling as a teenager while developing her original musical Static. Rowan plans to continue creating work that explores stories of trails and outdoor communities.
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