A first-time backpacker was found bloodied, wet, shaking — and possibly slashed — on the ground of a California hiking trail, but has no recollection of how he ended up in the dire situation.
Sashank Upadhyayula, 34, was discovered laid out in the tall grass at the edge of the Lost Coast Trail last Tuesday by a group of six teenage campers and their counselors, the Lost Coast Outpost reported.
He was covered in blood, shivering violently and laying in soaked blue jeans when the teenage boys spotted him at around 9 a.m. last Monday.
The teens’ adult counselors with Lost Coast Camp immediately began tending to Upadhyayula and issued a distress alert via satellite phone to get medical help.
The counselors — Solomon Reinman, 26, and Jack Davis, 28, who are both wilderness first-aid certified — cut open his jacket and bandaged his wounds, and wrapped him in a sleeping bag and tarp, the outlet reported.
Then the teens — who had gotten a crash course in wilderness first aid the day before — set up a camping stove and heated up water to fill up bottles. They placed the hot water bottles next to Upadhyayula to get his body temperature up at the instruction of the camp program director Maria Vollmar, who ran over after receiving the emergency alert.
“The campers were all just really, really helpful and steady and kind,” Vollmar told the local publication. “Sol and Jack just really did an amazing job helping this man.”
Upadhyayula’s rescuers said he was largely incoherent when they got to him. He told them it was his first time backpacking and he went out alone.
He also told them he thought he had been attacked but couldn’t remember what happened.
A helicopter arrived about 90 minutes after the call for help was sent out and Upadhyayula was transferred to a local hospital, where he was treated for hypothermia and his wounds.
Paul Sever, an employee of the Bureau of Land Management, said what exactly happened to the solo backpacker is “a bit of a mystery” when asked by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Nearly a week later, he told the Lost Coast Outpost he’s still not sure what happened — but believes he was attacked.
The night before the campers found him, Upadhyayula said he thought heard something or someone at around 10 p.m.
“I remember hearing something, being scared and removing my bear spray, my two knives, water reservoir and my electronics,” he told the publication.
The next thing he remembers was waking up in the surf below the coastal trail.
“[I] made my way to the trail and collapsed after getting my mylar blanket. I covered my torso with the blanket and assumed fetal position to retain heat,” he said.
Upadhyayula had cuts on his arms, torso and throat.
“The doctors believe that it was a knife [or] bladed weapon,” Upadhyayula said. “With my lack of memory and because my knives are missing and how I was separated from my pack and found quite a distance away … it all points towards me being attacked.”
He reported the possible assault to both the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) King Range National Conservation Area Office, according to the Outpost.
The sheriff’s office told the publication it is investigating but has found no evidence thus far to suggest there is a threat to the public.
“The HCSO is continuing to investigate this incident but there is currently no information to suggest there is any current/on-going threat to safety of the public along the Lost Coast Trail,” the office said in a statement.
Upadhyayula warned other hikers to be aware of their surroundings and thanked his rescuers.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I cannot express my gratitude, you are doing God’s work,” he said. “I hope you achieve your dreams.”
The 24-mile Lost Coast Trail can be dangerous due to its proximity to the powerful Pacific Ocean.
In 2022, one hiker died and another was rescued after they were swept from the trail into the water amid 20-foot swells.
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