A hypothermic man found near a Bend-area visitors center late Thursday told deputies he walked over 10 miles in the nude before getting help, according to the local sheriff’s office.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office said Adam Gilliam, 27, showed signs of hypothermia and “extensive injuries” consistent with walking naked through trees and brush when authorities contacted him at the Lava Lands Visitor Center south of Bend. He later told deputies he’d walked naked from the visitor center to Benham Falls and back, according to the sheriff’s office.

That’s a distance of more than 10 miles, according to the sheriff’s office. The agency said temperatures were in the low 20s at the time.

Deputies believe drugs factored into Gilliam’s behavior.

A common reaction to hypothermia is removing one’s clothing.

Authorities were initially called to the visitor center at 10:15 p.m. Thursday on the report of a disoriented, reportedly naked man who asked another driver for help jumpstarting a car, the sheriff’s office said.

Authorities arrived to find the John Day man inside his car at the entrance to the visitor center. He was taken to a Bend hospital.

“Intervention by Deschutes County Deputies and Sunriver Police Officers prevented further serious medical complications,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

The visitor center serves as the interpretive hub of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. It’s currently closed.

— Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

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