That might be the reason our local Peformance Bike has a bunch of egg beater pedals on their clearance rack for $40. Many of them are used.

I was not sure about clipless, so I got the cheapest setup, and after falling a couple times & training my muscle memory to unclip, I ain't going back.

You could try my crude method: Practice unclipping every time you slow down to a crawl, put your feet down, repeat it over and over for a few days. You will get used to it quickly. Trust us; having those clipless pedals makes a big difference in your climbing power.

I started out with SPD's, and still use them.