Day 35 - Sunday Thurso to Tongue — Corner to Corner for HavenHouse

Quick facts:

Weather: rain in the morning H18 L 14 C Humidity 93% at 6 am Wind E 26 kph

POP at 8 am is 72%

Sunset at 8:05

Departure: Weigh Inn Lodges, Thurso

Destination: Kyle of Tongue Hostel and Campsite, Tongue IV27 4XH

Planned distance: 43 mi, 68.8 km

Planned ascent: 2,731 ft

Planned descent: 3,000 ft

Route: Photo from Ride with GPS. For actual metrics pls see Ralph’s Strava report https://www.cycling4charity.org.uk

Good morning/ Good day

Today might be our first day to start out in the rain. Not bad considering it is day 35 and this is the Isle of Great Britain!

We had been traveling on the North Coast 500 a circle route of Northern Scotland that takes in the iconic Highlands. Ralph and I would end up doing about one third the circle. It is incredibly picturesque and touts itself as been one of the most beautiful road trips in the workd. It was wild and mostly empty today. When we did it the traffic was almost exclusively motorbikes, RVs and a few bicycles. It is promoted on its publicity site

https://www.northcoast500.com/

Wikipedia gives perhaps a more balanced view with pros and cons of the route.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Coast_500 . The speeding, congestion and lack of use of the passing spots are some of the complaints locals voiced. I found the scenery spectacular.

No rain until 4 miles down the road. A serious tailwind sped me along at 10 mph with no effort despite the hills. Quiet roads ahead which we are taking as the norm for Northern Scotland.

Although Northern Scotland seemed empty as I pedalled along, suddenly there was a modern, welcoming business park at Forss, in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere! In the background you can see a few of the hundreds of wind turbines being erected in the area.

Another interesting site we passed was the Dounreay site owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Their slogan is “Dealing with the past, protecting the future”.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dounreay

The nuclear reactors were built in the 1950’s and the work of decommissioning them since 1977 has provided significant employment to the Thurso region. The last nuclear power generation at the site was in 1994.

We carried on down the highway and I passed a photo radar warning sign. I didn’t think much of it except that it was odd in the middle of nowhere, until this next sign appeared. I got the message loud and clear… don’t speed on the NC 500 or you may suffer dire consequences! The perturbed locals who have nicknamed the NC 500 the Indy500 seem to have the police on their side!

Off I went below the speed limit on the deserted highway and not far down the road was another surprise establishment: Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment operated for the Navy by Rolls Royce.

It seems that this facility built in 1957 to test nuclear reactors in submarines is also being decommissioned like the civilian site beside it. The last reactor operations were in 2015 and it is hoped the site will be decommissioned by 2030!

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-51927359

Next along the road was the more familiar sight of a Church of Scotland entering Reay and names of their fallen sons on the war memorial.

War memorial:

… and the welcoming sign of the Reay Golf Course. I think it says “The most northerly 18 hole links course on the British mainland”. Wear mitts when you play!

It looked pretty rough and challenging. We had passed this course when we were heading east a few days ago. It was early evening then and a class of many young boys was preparing for an evening round and golf lessons. Golf will continue in Scotland!

The border between England and Scotland was not always very clear when we crossed it but in N Scotland the border between the Sunderland / Macay Country and Caithness that we were leaving was clear whether you were coming:

Or going:

The countryside near Melvich supported agriculture which would be in contrast to the rough conditions later on in the Scottish Highlands.

It was raining off and on so a public toilet, e-charger for cars with a garbage bin hidden behind it and a bus shelter seemed a perfect place for lunch!

The road near Strathy:

The land has turned much rougher and less able to support livestock other than sheep. I quite liked this sign on a farm gate.

It was VERY windy with the wind still almost always directly in our back. It was also wet. I had several options of layered raingear to keep me warm and dry from head to toe. Ralph had a very good rain jacket. It just didn’t have a hood so the rain dripped in and down his back. His solution was to buy 5 one time use plastic ponchos to wear under the rain jacket to solve the problem.

Let's just say it wasn’t a 100% success. Last time I saw the remaining 3 ponchos they were available to anyone who wanted them .. a 1£ donation to Haven House appreciated!

If you want to see the YouTube video on how to put on a one time use poncho in a gale force wind, click below.

https://youtu.be/VCd3Q1trkbw

Thank you, Billy, for combining the videos, and the new intro.

We were on the A836 that we had travelled on from Bettyhill to Thurso three days previously so we knew the size of the hills “backwards” so to speak. We entered into Bettyhill from a very long hill down to sea level.

When I took this screen shot of my Garmin I was at

39 ft above sea level. I could only go up from here apparently.

…. And up I went to the beautiful highlands.

Highlands near Skerray.

As we got back to the river valleys and flood plains we also got back to fertile soils that could support farming again. This scene is near Colebackie.

Back to sea level at the Kyle of Tongue as we entered Tongue on the path along the shoreline.

Our home for the night was the Kyle of Tongue hostel and campgrounds.

It had turned into a sunny evening. We locked the bikes up and found our comfortable private rooms. Hostels I have stayed in over the past decade have increasingly catered to travelers who are not interested in 12 bunk dorms but want quiet and privacy. I have to admit however that my experiences in the 12 or 20 bunk dorms have the best stories.