On a walk the other night I came across this plaque at Austin and Wichita Streets. The more I read, the more intrigued I am.
This “trail” was conceived by one of the Art Guys in the 1980s. I spend a lot of time walking the streets of Inner Loop Houston, so this is right up my alley. Also convenient that the left foot is two blocks from my house.
I’ve already walked quite a bit of the body of the Human without even knowing it. Everything but the head. But I will be doing this one limb by limb over the near future. 34 mile total loop.
So the Human Tour body has a water on the knees condition ?
Michael Galbreth, better known as the taller half of The Art Guys, conceived of “The Human Tour” in 1982 while a student at the University of Houston.
Along with Jack Massing, the other Art Guy, Galbreth planted five plaques where the head, hands and feet would be, laid out more than 150 blue silhouettes on the streets to serve as guideposts and printed maps for would-be Human Tourists, which could be picked up at the downtown library or DiverseWorks.
Today, only one of those plaques remains (former Houston Press reporter John Nova Lomax stumbled upon it three years ago in the Binz section of the Museum District at Wichita and Austin), all of the blue markers have worn away
The 4 missing plaques, and paint, should be replaced, if the 2013 Human Tour resurrection did not accomplish that.
Third leg complete…by which I mean I’ve finished both of the Human’s legs. A little more than halfway done (21.7 miles completed out of the full 39.4-mile Human Tour).
Are you using the Map My Walk app or something different ? Haven’t used these
class of apps before, so I’m like thinking about how I may use one.
Keep up the photos ! But man, that west looking east view of the stadium is … brutal looking. Wish we could do something about it; the metro rail stuff doesn’t help with the cluttered view
I use Google Fit app on my phone to track the walk. There’s a relatively simple process to export the data from Google, convert to KML file, and then import it into Google Earth. Convoluted but not difficult.
I have really been enjoying the walk. It’s a great way to see the city. I enjoy seeing the variety of neighborhoods, the history, and what’s new. Houston is constantly reinventing itself, so the walk I’m doing is different than the walk that was originally envisioned.
If you do the Human Tour, bring plenty of water and a hat.
