As the roads got narrower and steeper we saw a sign with paint marks smudge on the sides, and it read, “Welcome to Hogback Mountain.” Hogback Mountain held one of the closets and most well known grounds to play paintball. It is located in rural Loudon County about 35 miles from McLean VA, roughly 45 minutes of driving. So on January 18th 2014 my friends and I headed out with high hopes of having a great time.
As we got ready and grouped up, anyone below the age of 17 needed a parent or guardian signature in case of liability. After that we went through safety procedures, picked up our proper head gear and air soft gun. Eventually we went up the mountain and found our first map to play in, “Forest.” It was littered with bunkers and protective barriers that you could hide behind. Eventually we got split up and began our game of Capture the Flag.
The thrill of playing paintball is very exciting. Who wouldn’t want to shoot at enemies and feel like they’re playing Call of Duty or Battlefield? But real life paintball is whole lot different. Because it was winter we all had jackets and sweaters to protect us from the cold and pain of paintball pellets, yet sometimes the pellets wouldn’t break into goo so it would hurt a whole lot. Throughout our 6 games, working together was key and not rushing in at the start because that would just make pellets rain down on you.
My experience at Hogback was great, the price was at 45$ per person which was relatively expensive, yet the memory will always stay. I highly recommend heading out to Hogback for a birthday party or a group activity for a special occasion. The staff is great, the environment and people are great, and I say when you have the time, money, and friends to make this happen. Make it happen!
