I would like to share my experience in exploring Mount Sadong at Serian Sarawak. The journey up to the summit was not as hard as I thought it would be because the trekking trail is not too difficult but is rather steep so take extra care when walking on slippery surfaces around each turn of corner throughout your climb up.
My friend and I were all meeting at the parking space near the coffee shop at 13th mile as early as 6.30 am, we all had our breakfast, some of us had our kolo mee while some others had our kuih tiao and a cup of coffee to energise ourselves.
As we drove off, I look outside the car window and can see the sunrise, it was so peaceful and beautiful with no clouds in the sky. We arrived at Mount Sadung at around 8:00am . The view from Mount Sadung was spectacular, even though there were some clouds coming in but they didn’t stop us from having fun!
We arrived at Kg Sadung village at 8.10am and parked our car near the school. Then we also check that we have all the necessary things needed for the hike, and gear up by changing our hiking boots and clothes. We started our journey to the summit of Serian`s highest mountain peak at 8.20am.
We started hiking at 8am and it was a 5.2km round trip hike with some steep climbs in between. The hike is a challenging one but it is a good way to get some exercise and fresh air at Mount Sadung.
The trail is mostly steep with very loose stones and some big boulders. There are some steep steps on your way up to the summit which may require short rest stops before proceeding higher. Some ropes are fixed at the extremely steep area to help hikers to climb up. The distance from the base camp to the summit is about 2.6 kilometres away with an elevation gain of 720 meters above sea level. It takes about 2 hours and 20 minutes for us to reach its peak from base camp but it depends on how fast you can walk or jog yourself up as well as how much effort you put in during this hike!
As we reached about an hour into our journey up Mount Sadung, we started seeing more mushrooms around us. There were also many other kinds of plants that I did not know what they were called at that time.
After about an hour or so, the trail started to get steeper and many sections were covered with thick forest vegetation. You could see some beautiful views along the way as well!
The trekking trail is not too difficult but is rather steep and slippery due to the muddy ground with some fallen trees across it. But nevertheless, I enjoyed every moment taken during my ascent as there were so many flora and fauna awaiting me around each turn of corner throughout my climb up.
The trail is marked with red paint at the tree trunk, so you will not get lost along your way. Sometimes it may be muddy that you need to hold onto a branch or tree root to avoid slipping on them while walking along the path.
As soon as I reached halfway through my journey, I was surprised by what I saw— a small waterfall, a few trees have fallen across the path! But these trees are quite big and thick, making them quite difficult to move around. Here are mostly sandstone, and there is also a section with a landslide careful not to get lost in this area as it can be dangerous!.
Conclusion
After spending about 2 hours reaching the top, I was very excited and happy to be there. The view from the summit of Mount Sadung is breathtaking with a 360° panoramic view of Serian town, Pan Borneo highway, and Gunung Ampungan. It also gives you an opportunity to see a variety of flora and fauna including pitcher plants, as well as butterflies flying around freely around them along with some birds (falcons) flying above our heads too!
Maps
Distance: 2.6km one way
Time: 2 hrs 20mins
