I appreciate this sentiment. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t find that hikers are all that hostile to newcomers? All I really expect as a casual hiker is to not be subjected to any disrespectful behavior. I haven’t experienced any real gatekeeping behavior or overt exclusion (of course, I don’t hike all that regularly). It’s always nice if people are friendly and go out of their way to be helpful, but it’s a bit much to expect everyone to be in that headspace mentally. Sometimes we just don’t feel up to it.

I think anytime you enter a subculture, there’s going to be an uncomfortable phase before you feel like you fit in. That’s just the nature of trying something new. We can’t expect our hand to be held during this process. It’s nice if you have someone to do that, but mostly we just have to be adults and work through difficult things. It builds resilience!