Wonderful trip report. This covers the part of the world where I grew up. We lived in Caithness, in Dunnet near Dunnet Head. It brings back many memories of time spent on the beaches during school and university summer holidays. Also went to a few barn dances along the north coast, some of which got quite rough. Driving those roads in the dark was really hard because there were no road markings back then, because they were mostly single track roads. In Caithness there are many places hidden in the bleak countryside that show evidence of ancient settlements, with standing stones, cairns and solitary big stones. We don't know who put them there. The most famous in Caithness is probably the site of Camster Cairns.

The roads are much improved compared to what they used to be, although long stretches of the A838 (near Durness) and the A836 (near Tongue) haven't changed. Around Melvich the road has been much improved. Of course, it always makes me feel that the more accessible you make these places, the more they get overrun and built up. That's why this North Coast 500 makes me slightly uneasy. For me, the classification from Ullapool counter clockwise is A835, A837, A894, A838 and A836, which could be why the consistent number of NC500 was dreamed up. The point is, the original road numbers were designed to serve the ports and harbours (especially the fishing industry but defense too). So A835 would serve Ullapool from points north and south, A837 for Lochinver, A838 for Kinlochbervie (big fishing centre) from north and south, and so on. Some slip roads to the harbours would actually carry separate unsigned numbers (e.g. the A893 in Ullapool along the waterfront to the pier, 500 metres in all).