The Phantom Patrol

Perhaps all once in our lives had experienced a supernatural event, and for some others, it's a way of living (like the guys in that shi.... awful tv program).

But for me it's an unusual topic. I hadn't experienced supernaturals phenomenon, or ghost encounters.

Maybe once, in a short excursion to... yes you guess, San Rafael. The place that I wrote before.

For a better understandig of this place, San Rafael is a rute to climb the north side of the Iztaccihuatl volcano, better known as the "head", and it's very popular rute for the climbers.

As you noticed in my previous blog, is not a easy road, you need to pay attention on your steps, because there are some tricky places, and you may suffer an accident.

This legend is about a Scout patrol who losted in the forest of San Rafael. This is an old story, some say this events took place in the 1960's decade.

This patrol was on a trip into this forest, and they had walked all day. In some point they decided to rest and set their camp. When the cook set the fire to cook and asked for the food, they realized the food was missed. Soon asked for the boy who was in charge of it.

"Where is the food?" -"I left it down the road, it was heavy and I was tired..." All the kids were angry with him, and ordered to climb down and find the food, they only had broad beans and it was the food for the hole camping.

The kid obeyed and went to find the food. A few hours past and the kid didn't return, the dark was coming and all the kids went to find his friend and the food. They never showed up.

The legend says, when you're on a trip in this place, you may find a scouts asking repeatedly for their friends. In order to not been taken by them and lost you road (or taken your soul), you have to answer that you're looking for their friends too, and soon as you find them you will tell them.

In my trip, we went to catch up a patrol who went on camping in the forest the day before. In this time, we walked fast and there was no delay, it was a go/back trip.

We stopped to take a little rest and in the place we stopped I saw a pair of scouts setting a bonfire, and cooking their meal.

I remember saw them different, kind of pale, with a wasted clothes and even old badges in their uniforms. One of them passed in front of me, as I walked formed in line catching up the others. When they saw us, instantly started to ask if we had seen their friends. My Scoutmaster Chief answered that we hadn't seen other scouts, but if we saw them, we will let them know.

At the moment, my mind doesn't payed much attention to the situation and never related the ghost history with these boys. What I can remember is watching a little fire, beside the road, made by dry leaves. This call my attention, because I hoped to see some pieces of wood to sustain a good fire, and the particular smell of the broad beans.

After that, we meet our friends, made some activities and returned to home.

When we passed again across this place and taking again a little rest, I went to find hopefully the ashes of the bonfire; there wasn't any ashes, no one, not a single trace of fire. -"What!, why there is no ashes, or signs of fire?, this is not possible." I said to myself.

A few weeks after, in a meeting with my friends, we remembered the events of the trip, funny situations and all kind of stories. Then someone said:

-"Hey, do you remember the pair of Scout that we found? Didn't seemed strange to you?"

All started to tell our impressions, how they looked, the old and wasted uniforms, the old badges, the pallid skin, even the eyes look, the kind of look that you stare but it doesn't fix on you, very strange.

After all this comments, another said -"Do you remember the legend of the Phantom Patrol that we were told in the last camping?, the look, the comments, everything fits with the story... perhaps they were them..."

Suddenly nobody say a word, we just look each other, swalling saliva and change the topic of our conversation.

Were they really them? I don't know, If I had a ghost experience?, maybe. The only thing I can be sure is all the events that took place, the look like of these boys, the smell of the broad beans, and the questions that they made us.

Every time that I go back to San Rafael, the first thing that I think is "Do I ever seen this guys again?"