Trocha Union and the Struggle of Smuggling 

Trocha Union and the struggle of smuggling

Words and photos by Riley Fortier

A 2000-meter descent made only by botanists and smugglers makes for an exciting trail, especially when death from dehydration is a real possibility halfway through. The trail is Trocha Union, an ancient Incan path that descends the Kosñipata ridge in Manu National Park. I had the opportunity to spend 4 days getting to know the trail on a scouting trip to visit some potential research sites. I was with a local botanist, Alex, who had done the trail years prior so I was in good hands.

Before getting into my experience, a brief history of the trail. Trocha Union is a just tiny part of an elaborate network of roads that linked all corners of the Incan empire. The network also reached into neighboring lands for trade, like fine roots tapping into precious resources, and some of the most important of these paths were the ones that spread east into the Amazon. There were likely thousands of these trade routes, but the vast majority have been obscured by the vigorous growth of the jungle. Incan people would trade textiles, metal tools, and other manufactured goods to people of the Amazon in exchange for exotic fruit, wood, and perhaps most importantly, coca. For the Inca, coca (Erythroxylum spp.) is sacred and used in everyday life, but it grows best in the foothills of the Andes. These trails were therefore essential for the Inca to acquire one of their most highly revered goods. Even today Coca is consumed with enthusiasm throughout the Andes, and Trocha Union still acts as an avenue for its transport. 

On day one of our trek, we woke up at four to catch the dim red glow of dawn illuminating a starry, moonless sky. Predictably, clouds quickly rolled in, so we took refuge in our tents from the thin, frigid air before starting our descent at first light. I packed one liter of water upon departure and drank it all within a couple of hours, knowing that there was a small spring near our campsite almost 1000 meters below. The trail itself follows a sharp ridge, far above any water sources. After a full day’s hike (and crawl) into the belly of Manu National Park, about a third of the way down Trocha Union, we arrived at our dilapidated platform and set up camp. Already dangerously dehydrated and weak from the difficult trail, we set out to find the one and only water source on its entirety, a small trickle of spring water hidden in the forest some 200 meters from camp. It is so well hidden, in fact, we couldn’t find it.

Back to the history. Over the course of centuries, humans and rain have weathered Trocha Union down to bare rock. Many sections of the trail have turned into miniature slot canyons, with walls covered in thick moss, which provided welcome soft spots to hold on to every time I lost my footing on the rocky, technical terrain. Some sections are so deeply channelized that roots have closed the gap above, creating tunnels dark enough to warrant the use of flashlights at high noon. In these tunnels, the roof is the forest floor, a bed of roots and humus that completely conceals the ancient trail below. The first few tunnels were fascinating and fun, but they quickly lost their charm when my legs turned to rubber from so much crouching and crawling. Did I mention I had a 50 pound pack on this whole time?

Peru strictly regulates the cultivation and sale of coca leaves, so a large portion of harvest and transport is illegal. Consumption, on the other hand, is completely legal and commonplace. A checkpoint on the Manu road catches all shipments of the plant going from its harvesting grounds up to the most important markets in the high Andes. It catches all shipments on the road, that is. The bottom of Trocha Union is just a few kilometers before the checkpoint, and it’s here that smugglers unload their cargo and put it onto the backs of humans. The “mules”, as they’re called, walk up the trail into vast wilderness to bypass the checkpoint, all to earn 100-200 Peruvian soles (26-52 US dollars). If they’re caught by authorities at the top, they lose their shipment, their money, and face steep fines that only incentivize future trips to break even. During our trip down the trail, we passed a couple dozen of them, teeth stained blackish green from years of coca chewing, hauling enormous bags of leaves that made them resemble camels far more than mules.  

We searched for the spring for an hour, bushwhacking and nearly falling off steep cliffs on either side of the knife ridge. The jungle was so overgrown that Alex couldn’t quite remember where it was, so to avoid becoming completely lost in the wilderness, we had to abandon our search and returned to camp in defeat. My head was splitting from the lack of water and the muscles in my legs were beginning to spasm. Our original plan was to stay at the platform for two nights, exploring the forest nearby for future research. We obviously had to pivot and plan our exit strategy. The human body can only survive three days without water, and our taxing hike on one liter of water likely set the clock forward considerably. It was late in the day with at least 24 hours before reaching the bottom of the trail, and even then, water wasn’t an immediate guarantee. The only way out was down, so we started mentally preparing on how to manage the remaining 1500-meter descent full of hiking, crawling, and climbing with no water. At this point, I started to really consider the possibility that I wasn’t going to make it out. If that were to happen, at least I’d go out doing what I love, botanizing in a remote tropical forest.

There’s a strange irony being stuck in a remote, old growth cloud forest with no water. These ecosystems have so much moisture locked up in plants and experience near constant fog and mist. For one to be completely dry was a first for me. Not one drop of rain, nor even a single wet clump of moss to squeeze out.

It was then that Alex recalled a study from years ago. A scientist interested in the hydrological dynamics of canopy throughfall (AKA how rainfall trickles through the canopy) had installed a series of hoses to collect water from the crown of a tree, diverting it in an old Jerry can. We needed to find that can. Our search began in the immediate forest, focusing on the bases of big trees. For a while we didn’t find anything interesting, until we noticed a brick of raw, white powder. A kilo of pure cocaine was stashed in a hole beneath a tree. This was the realization that Trocha Union is now used to smuggle not only coca, but also its very illegal and destructive derivative. Even though we were completely alone, we pretended like we didn’t see it and immediately moved on to be safe (and now here I am writing about our discovery on a public page, go figure). An hour later, our search paid off and we were rewarded with 20 liters of water ridden with mosquito larvae, frog eggs, and leaf litter. I took a big chug right away, fully aware of its contaminated contents. I then decided purification would be wise. A simple filter through a bandana and a good boil dissolved any doubts of potential sickness and we drank like our lives depended on it, because frankly, they did. 

We spent the following day wandering up and down the trail, visiting some tree plots along the trail, and enjoying a viewpoint of the adjacent ridge. On day three, we fill our bottles with the remaining water, return the Jerry can to the forest, and depart from camp. The hike out was even harder than the hike in, as it was nearly twice as long and featured a brutal 300m incline towards the end. Our arrival at the bottom of the trail was rewarded with delicious fried trout from a roadside shack. Our driver, however, never showed up so we had to wait at said roadside shack for 8 hours before finding another ride back to Cusco. 

All in all, Trocha Union was certainly an experience I won’t forget for some time. But I would like to caution people who are interested in hiking the trail. A good GPS track (it was easy to lose near the top), an absolute guarantee of water throughout, and confidence to navigate interactions with potential drug smugglers are 100% necessary when doing this trail. That said, I look forward to conducting research on Trocha Union someday and spending even more time on such a beautiful, storied trail. 

Tags: Peru, Trocha Union, Manu National Park, coca, botany, trekking, Kosñipata, Inca, trail