If a rider is "spinning crazily", which I'll take to be 110 rpm, with a 24 tooth chainring and a 27 tooth cog, then you're going to have to walk eight minute miles to keep up. Who's looking like crazy legs?
I have found that it is generally faster to have and use the low gears than it is to walk the steep grades. However, if you enjoy the ride more when you walk a bit, then that's what you should do. As long as you're having fun and being legal, safe and courteous, there really isn't a right way to do it, at least in my opinion.