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?"

My First Camping

When I look back and try to remember when was my first camping with the Scouts, I can't believe that took place 22 years ago, and I can still remember so many details of it.

The camping took place in May of 1989 and it was a 3 days camping, in the place named "San Rafael", in the lower border of the Iztacihuatl's head. And my troop wasn't the only one, the girls troop was invited too. There were about 60 boys and girls heading to a new and unespected great adventure.

We arrived at the town of San Rafael, arround 10 am and started to walk into the mountain. This was my very first expierence in a camping like this, carring my bagpack with my clothes, food, water, lamp, sleeping bag and some other things. For an 11 years old kid, it was a lot and the load was heavy.

Our destination was a place called "Cascada de los Diamantes" wich is a waterfall created by the melting snow of the mountain.

Being so many scouts on the road, and a lot of new guys, just like me, who were not used to walk and carring heavy stuffs, the people line was delayed. On the road to this place there are certain key points, to wait for the delayed ones and choose the right way. So with this situation, the people who reach first this points had to wait about 2 hours until the last one arrived; this situation deleyed our walk a lot.

The night fall down, and we were stuck in gully, the only way out was climbing along side the mountain wall to reach higher ground and continue the walk. Finally we could got out. Along the wall, the raod had only 1 meter wide; on one side, the climbing wall and in the other side a 20 mts fall. You don't need to be a genius to figure out what could happend if you fall down, in fact, there was some crosses of people who had died in that place.

I can't describe the feeling when I was walking that wall, between fear and sharpness. Finally we all passed through; no one fallen down.

Whe spend the first night into a kind of cave, the ground had no place to set our camp tents, and we were in a kind of corredor. That was my first time sleeping in the outside and having a stone as my pillow, besides hearing the voice of a night-owl kid who was asking to be lighted in every step he made. It was so funny.

The morning showed up, with a cold sugar cornflakes breakfast with grape juice, giving the new day strenghts.

Our trip was almost complete. To our surprise, we spend the night in a few meters of our destination, and having a disappointed view of the waterfall, just a fine string of water falling down.

The joke time of the day: one of my friends carried his goggles, snorkel and flippers, hoping to take a nice swim in the waterfall. This never happened.

We had to move to an other place, and set the camping site. We climbed up to the mountain to find some flat terrain and so we did, making a large chain and passing the luggage.

Finally we were able to set our camp tents, having time to make a hot meal, have some fun and rest in a flat comfortable tent with out any strange noise.

Next day, was the returning day. We set all our gear and prepared to walk down the mountain. There are two ways to climb down that mountain, one is on the car road, and the other is across the "el tubo" a pipe which is used to collect the melting water and carries down to the town. I chose the car road, it was wider and safer and less rocky.

As well in the beginning, the returning was slow, reaching the key points late. We reached the bus to México at 8 o'clock pm, arriving at the Tapo terminal around 10 pm, and from there to my home almost an other hour. My home is Azcapotzalco, near by the "Casco de Santo Tomás", which is the IPN oldest campus.

Many of my friends lived in the same neighborhood as I, so we returned together once we got in the subway. The nearest subway station to my home is "Normal", and from there you get a "microbus".

That night an electrical storm came down, and leaving the area without electrical power. When we got out the station, the bus wanted to charge an extra cost for each one, and making an special trip for us. We decided it was better to walk home and save the extra money.

At this point I don't want to talk about our parents. In those days there wasn't cell phones, so we couldn't inform every 5 min about our location. Obviously our parents were waiting in the park where we use to gather each saturday. In those days it was a little bit difficult to inform at the exact time. I thought they were a "little" concerned about us.

Finally I got home, in the middle of the dark, almost at midnight, tired and little bit wet. Having the best experience of my life, challenge me in all senses and loving this activity like no one. It was so intense that I can still remember many details, smells, tastes, faces and situations even after 22 years. So far my first and very best camping in my life.