Ramon Fadli Photography – Tok Nenek, Bubu, Yong Yap (TNBYY)

February 10, 2013 Posted by Ramon Fadli in Broadleaf Rainforests

Tok Nenek, Bubu, Yong Yap (TNBYY) - Day 2

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TNBYY Index

Mount Bubu Camp

The descent down Mount Tok Nenek was fairly steep and went through tunnels of moss and the prevalence of mud made the descent somewhat slippery. The descent itself took about two hours before reaching the Last Water Point, with a descent of about 300 metres. By this time Aidan, Lesly and I had a dire need to defecate and so rapidly made our way to the water source to replenish our supply. To our great disappointment however, we found that the Last Water Point itself barely had any water and that the levels were so low that they ended up bunching into small very shallow pools with almost stagnant water. The water looked like it could do with filtration and was so questionable that I was even wondering about the efficacy of my water purifier, the Adventurer Opti Water Purifier. We didn't have any other option however and had to replenish our supply of water there and then.

Once we were done, we made our way back to the path where I cooked some mushroom soup which was consumed with two small pieces of French bread for lunch. Soon after that, we started to climb once again, increasing our elevation to 1974 m at the peak of Mount Bubu . The altitude graph below clearly shows the descent from Mount Tok Nenek and the ascent up Mount Bubu.

We ended up trekking in the dark again but fortunately reached the peak of Mount Bubu shortly after where we set up camp. This campsite wasn't ideal for hammocks as the trees that were located around the area were thin and would not support my weight. The hammock was strung up easily enough around a multitude of trees in close proximity. This worked well enough although the hammock ended up so low that my back was actually touching the ground. This didn't prove to be too much of a concern however as the ground at the site that I had selected was flat enough to not become a hindrance. What did become a hindrance though was the proximity of the fire that the others had started to generate heat as it was a source of smoke that became stifling at points.

Route Playback

Suunto Movescount Stats

Download GPX file here (right click and save link as)

After dinner, which was a mix of spaghetti and noodles with spaghetti sauce, the group had an 'ice breaking' session where everyone introduced themselves and shared their experience with mountaineering. Surprisingly I actually found myself enjoying the session as everyone was warm, very open and the humorous occasions kept me laughing. I found this interesting as a lot of the group looked weary and tired and practically everyone was huddling down from the cold with some even shivering. The fact that I was going around the camp topless produced shocked looks and comments from the others.

Although comfortable, the hammock had given me a strange feeling of being cocooned that night. That, and the lack of visibility, made it difficulty to react to immediate threats and that awareness had left me with a certain feeling of vulnerability. I am not sure what may have prompted this feeling, although the smothering feel of the smoke from the fire may be to blame. Nevertheless, I slept comfortably and well that night.