Maine orders arrivals to self-quarantine and closes lodging

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srhigham

Member
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Jan 8, 2015
Messages
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Location
Essex Co., Mass.
From Portland Press Herald:


Anyone arriving in Maine is being ordered to self-quarantine for 14 days, and hotels and other lodging operations have been forced to shut down to curtail visitors from outside the state.

Gov. Janet Mills issued an executive order Friday mandating that anyone who comes to Maine, regardless of where they live, must self-quarantine for 14 days to help slow the spread of the new coronavirus infection. Anyone found in violation can be charged with a Class E crime and subject to a penalty of up to six months in jail and $1,000 fine, though Mills said she hoped compliance would be voluntary.

The order also mandates the suspension of all lodging operations, including hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts, inns and short-term rentals, as well as RV parks and campgrounds. Lodging operators who violate the order will be “subject to appropriate penalties,” according to the news release announcing the order.

The order for travelers to self-quarantine comes amid flaring tensions caused by people from other states coming to Maine to wait out the health crisis.
 
Similar here in the ADKs. Quite a few cars (for the off season), lots of CT, MA and NJ plates in the mix. But similar to your experience, I was headed to a remote location, where I saw no one after leaving the parking pullout.
 
Curious how many of the NJ and CT hikers were expecting rotten snow and typical April conditions. I'm only to a point where I may drive a couple of towns over as nine trips in two weeks to the small local woodland is getting tiresome. If I was to drive further north, a weekday would seem a better idea. Above treeline, stepping off the trail by six feet would put you in the fragile vegetation unless you found rocks to step on.

While it's calendar Spring everywhere, it's actual Spring here. I've been out the last two days in shorts & with no gloves or even glove liners. The daffodils are opening and the buds on the trees have color.
 
I'm only to a point where I may drive a couple of towns over as nine trips in two weeks to the small local woodland is getting tiresome.

Same here. Haven't been to NH hiking since 3/18. I have several state forests and or parks within 10 miles. I also have Crane Beach which is now only open to residents only, just and Friday-Sunday. But all of that has already gotten old. I'm kinda of surprised from some of the above posts that out-a-staters are going to NH and NY. From what I'm reading on FB in all the hiking groups, I'd be afraid to leave my car, with it's MA plates, at a trail-head. There's seems to be a lot anger out there. I've been hiking everywhere in NH for decades and even on a weekend, know places I could go and possibly be the only one there. Plus, my car can get up and back easily without stopping for gas. And being a guy, bathroom breaks are a non-issue. I'm utterly conflicted between staying near home, or maybe once a week heading to something secluded up north.

Tough times, for sure. :(
 
I have made the decision to stay in Rhode Island. The state lands and Audubon are still open for now. This should provide hiking for a month. No elevation, but very few people also.
 
I've been hiking my rail trail and through my town, wearing my pack. Its been ok. I snuck up north yesterday, very early. I only saw 2 people and gave them 10 ft. of space. I did not stop on the way up, or the way home. I will say this, the parking lot was almost full when I got down, they all went the same way on the loop so I missed them all. I wont go there again, off the beaten path is a must right now.
 
Ive also been reexploring all the nooks and crannies of my local state forests in Mass. As the snow disappears in N.H. and Maine, I'll be sorely tempted to go up to some obscure locations, but won't do it with my Mass.Plates.
 
Ive also been reexploring all the nooks and crannies of my local state forests in Mass. As the snow disappears in N.H. and Maine, I'll be sorely tempted to go up to some obscure locations, but won't do it with my Mass.Plates.

Our governor in New Hampshire has just asked hotels to limit accomodations to essential workers. There are exceptions relating to domestic violence and staying for quarantine from family.


link: https://www.necn.com/news/local/nh-gov-sununu-to-give-update-on-coronavirus-response/2256563/
 
My suspicion is that any imagined or real pushback about out of state plates at trailhead parking lots is somewhat directly proportional to the number of cars in the parking lot. Yes I have seen the various news articles that are long on opinions but short on actual reports. It makes for good headlines and the associated eyeballs.The Vinalhaven Maine event that seems to be cited frequently has gone viral, its not unusual for there to be occasional conflicts between long term islanders and summer residents, especially when the local lobster industry's collapse means it make sense for the locals to stay home instead of going out.

During the governors comments regarding the ban his major basis for the lodging hotels and Air B&Bs is that Maine and VT had already done it and therefore NH had to do it to prevent the pandemic tourists/refugees from heading to NH.
 
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I've been living in my place in NH since this started, but have to go back to MA for work for a couple days a week. Since our exposure is down there, we do our shopping down there and bring it up. Once we're up here, we just stay at the house and wander around the yard. We had some cutting done last fall, so picking up the leftover slash has been a nice substitute for hiking and going to the gym. We have a bottle of sanitizer in car to use before/after any interactions outside of the home (e.g., pumping gas).

We're in quarantine when we're up here, and hopefully others do the same. Thankfully we have broadband and a fire pit for entertainment. Any lots of little projects, like setting up my weather station finally: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KNHTAMWO19?cm_ven=localwx_pwsdash

Not trying to create too much thread drift but what are you using for hardware on your Weather Station. The dashboard is rather savvy!;)
 
Add TX to the list of states telling all visitors that they are expected to self quarantine for 14 days.
 
Same here. Haven't been to NH hiking since 3/18. I have several state forests and or parks within 10 miles. I also have Crane Beach which is now only open to residents only, just and Friday-Sunday. But all of that has already gotten old. I'm kinda of surprised from some of the above posts that out-a-staters are going to NH and NY. From what I'm reading on FB in all the hiking groups, I'd be afraid to leave my car, with it's MA plates, at a trail-head. There's seems to be a lot anger out there. I've been hiking everywhere in NH for decades and even on a weekend, know places I could go and possibly be the only one there. Plus, my car can get up and back easily without stopping for gas. And being a guy, bathroom breaks are a non-issue. I'm utterly conflicted between staying near home, or maybe once a week heading to something secluded up north.

Tough times, for sure. :(

I've never seen Willowdale or Dow Brook so busy. However, the lot for Hunsly Hills has been barren and I don't think anyone is crossing the street to Linebrook Woods from Willowdale.
 
I've never seen Willowdale or Dow Brook so busy. However, the lot for Hunsly Hills has been barren and I don't think anyone is crossing the street to Linebrook Woods from Willowdale.

As busy as Willowdale may look, I know where I can go to, to be away from the masses. It would be far less crowded if they didn't allow all that single-track mountain bike trail to be built in there. I'd love to know who approved that. I've been a mountain biker for decades but don't think that should have been done in there. Every single secluded spot I'd go to, to look for and photograph deer, has a trail running through it. Rant over. ;)
 
As busy as Willowdale may look, I know where I can go to, to be away from the masses. It would be far less crowded if they didn't allow all that single-track mountain bike trail to be built in there. I'd love to know who approved that. I've been a mountain biker for decades but don't think that should have been done in there. Every single secluded spot I'd go to, to look for and photograph deer, has a trail running through it. Rant over. ;)

I stopped being a trail steward for that area when the MTBs took over. NEMBA seems to have a much larger influence than ECTA these days.
 
The couple of bikers I saw on the Shenipsit Trail in CT between Case Mt. & Birch Mt. Road (they are 700-800 foot hills/ridges) were in no hurry to move off trail for social distancing. It's easier for me to look for a spot where I want to step several feet off the trail to allow bikers or other hikers to pass. Of the three places I've been since 3/22, the hikers I've interacted with on trails have been looking for places to step off, it's just been a matter of who found the better spot first.
 
I am not sure many understand the big picture. I don't.

The virus doesnt stop in May. Merely, the curve has been flattened. (Some predict a second wave). People are still going to get sick and die, just at a lower rate and maybe with a 100% chance of having a vent available.

Are the restrictions for recreation going to be tightened while the restrictions for working loosened? Are we going to have to obtain a license (positive antibody result) to travel for non essential reasons?
 
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I am not sure many understand the big picture. I don't.

The virus doesnt stop in May. Merely, the curve has been flattened. (Some predict a second wave). People are still going to get sick and die, just at a lower rate and maybe with a 100% chance of having a vent available.

Are the restrictions for recreation going to be tightened while the restrictions for working loosened? Are we going to have to obtain a license (positive antibody result) to travel for non essential reasons?

I'm not sure we will for some time. At what point would you feel comfortable being in a crowded bar or lounge, either at a ski resort, a pub watching a game, the Station after a hike or even at the Sherman Adams building? My last trip up Monadnock was a Sunday in November, I don't know when I will be back, it likely will not be a Saturday or at normal hiking times. I do like going for sunrise and sunsets at crowded places when possible. Until the vast majority of people are tested or vaccinated, when you congregate in large crowds, you have to wonder where everyone's been. Crowded work pods and warehouse floors are going to have to change. Hospitals, prisons, schools. nursing homes, employers and places with high density crowds will have to change without testing.
 
I stopped being a trail steward for that area when the MTBs took over. NEMBA seems to have a much larger influence than ECTA these days.

I was thinking of stopping at the headquarters in Bradley Palmer and volunteering. If just to be a dog officer (prick) in there. People who have their dogs off leash in there is another (pet peeve) :p of mine. :cool:
 
We've been 'hiding' in the Southern Catskills. Even though it's closer to NY than the higher peaks, we have not met a single person in 8 hikes so far.
 
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