Well, you might. 
cuauhtemoc don’t be discouraged. I do lots of hiking through the Sierra Club and occasionaly other hiking groups. They can vary in how well organized they are (with the SC most organized and meetup groups it depends on the organizer). Overall, I’ve discovered great trails and destinations I would not have found on my own, met great friends, and dating partners, including my now wife.
The good apples outnumbered the bad more than 10 to 1 and many of the regulars watch out for each other and the group as a whole.
It’s much safer than hiking alone. Alone hiking can bebe done but with extra precautions including having someone know where you’re hiking and a time that if you haven’t returned to call 911. You should also either know the trail quite well or be very good at navigation and have studied the area well.
Well even if this is the case (and she is looking to date, not in a relationship, straight, etc.) she was not even afforded this privilege – gauging his looks as he did hers. She managed to make her decision, that she didn’t want this guy knowing anything about her, based solely on his actions.
The hottest girl in our hiking group is gay. Whether the new boys hit on her or not gives us a clue to their sensitivity.
Well, sure - if you are attracted to someone and interested in deepening the relationship, then them pursuing you (and you pursuing them) isn’t ‘creepy’ even if it’s intense. It’s not inappropriate by definition if it happens in context - someone making it clear they want to fuck you is great, if you also want to fuck them.
‘Creepiness’ has to do with someone you have no sexual interest in approaching/pursuing you, often too intensely or in an inappropriate way, and them not understanding or accepting that you are not interested and feel threatened by his behavior, and backing off. It’s most often a matter of the pursuer failing to read social cues properly or respect a woman’s boundaries. Which is a red flag for me whether someone is physically attractive or not. I don’t like being aggressively flirted with, not even by guys that look like movie stars. I have weird dominance issues with men though.
Yes, but a person can interpret literally anything as a sexual advance. Fortunately I avoid this problem by never speaking to anyone, and avoiding eye contact whenever possible.
You’re just playing hard to get.
I disagree. As an example take my daughter and her friend…both about 17. My wife and I took them on vacation last summer. During the vacation, they both were approached by multiple young guys. These guys seemed nice…didn’t ping my radar in anyway. Some of the guys were better looking than others. One in particular was goofy looking. Some of them my daughter and her friend would let them hang out with them for awhile laugh and flirt. Others were rejected.
In almost every case of rejected, my daughter and her friend would talk about how ‘creepy’ he/they were. While they may have picked up on something I didn’t (possible) it just so happened that the young guys who looked more attractive (taller/slimmer/more muscular) were not creepy and the others were. The goofy looking guy in particular was ‘very creepy’ to them. All the goofy guy did was approach them and try to make conversation (from where I sat). I saw no unwanted sexual advances or I would have been on him like stink on shit (unless his initial approach you would consider an unwanted sexual advance and if that is the case then you are an ass)
This is something I’ve also noted with sisters/women friends and my daughter and her friends.
As for the OP…yes, he jumped the gun. No need to beat himself up for it. Just realize your mistake and move on. Learn. Be more patient next time.
Are you kiddin? He’s been arrested, tried, convicted, and is awaiting execution by the God Given Courts of the Dope!
He’ll never be able to show his face in daylight again! 
He’ll have to wear a Scarlet ‘C’ on his chest for all time (for Creep), and it’ll be emblazoned on his tombstone.
Or, you know, he can find another hiking group and move on with his life.
NO…Hiking groups have a black list. He’ll never hike again. Maybe if he tries a hiking group in Pakistan he might have a chance.
Actually, some do. And the leaders have been known to speak to each other. On trips where people are a long way from the road, can be split off from the main group, and spend the night in remote campsites people do take this stuff seriously. I know at least one person who has been flagged as a problem to many/most of the websites and meet up groups in our area. His case is a bit more than just acting creepy, but it illustrates the problem.
Generally door-to-door salespeople are annoying and intrusive. But if that salesperson happens to very an extremely hot women, you may not mind as much and may even find it a pleasant experience. Unsolicited personal contact is often unpleasant, but people have a lot wider tolerance for unwanted behavior when said person has something you want. Someone calling at dinner time to collect debt is going to be obnoxious. Someone calling at dinner time to give you money is not.
With “creepy,” it’s almost tautological. Persistant unwanted sexual advances are “creepy.” If you find that person attractive, those advances are less likely to be unwanted and thus they are not creepy.
While this may seem unfair to those who think that any given woman owes them the time of day, there are things you can do to avoid pinging the “creepy” meter. One extremely good example would be to initiate first contact in a non-threatening (public, ask her name before her phone number) way so that you have a chance of reading how that person is reacting and gauging if she is interested, instead of leaping directly to writing letters to strangers asking for her personal info.
The problem with this is that (many) women give off what they think are clear signals of disinterest that (most) men are utterly capable of accurately interpreting. Many women report acting flirtatious in an entirely friendly and platonic manner, only to receive copious and often creepy responses from men who interpret any friendly behavior as being an invitation for sexual interest. And because one woman’s “interested” is another woman’s “polite”, it is hard to gauge even based upon a breadth of experience.
I would say that most of the men who are exceptionally successful with women are relatively insensitive to this; they ignore negative signs and assume that every woman is interested in therm, in essence, playing the “numbers game” of dating in the most economical fashion, i.e. hitting on everything that moves, whereas the “sensitive man” that women often claim they want is left paralyzed by often contradictory signage. Being creepy isn’t an automatic dealkiller, as long as you aren’t self-aware and work in bulk numbers.
Regardless, it is clear that the o.p. not only leapt right past social norms for this sort of thing, but failed to recognize or understand what those norms are. The attempt to appeal to the Meetup coordinator on the basis of the Tom Cruise analog just exemplified this, as did the o.p.'s inability or unwillingness to understand how unsettling this approach would be from the point of view of the woman in question. In general, if you have to ask someone else for basic information about the object of your affections and you are over the age of fourteen, it is probably a sign that you’d traversed into Creepville.
Stranger
In your experiences, creepy jerks are more successful with women? :dubious:
Wait. Don’t answer that. We’re about to start the 10,000th iteration of “Women like asshole losers/No they don’t” discussion. Never mind. Back to my tea…
Actually, yes. Of course, they basically accept the lowest common denominator, i.e. insecure club girls who have significant father complexes, but if your measure of success is unabashedly notching bedposts, then being an insensitive creep is a pretty successful strategy. On the other hand, I have too many close women friends to feel comfortable treating women like commodities, and therefore get labeled as thee “nice guy” who isn’t forceful enough, and so I always end up “this close”, only to be seconded-bested by the guy who ends up being a complete jerk. Women and men are often utter morons about relationships, only in completely different ways.
Sorry, too late.
Stranger
Tea? At 5pm? Is it decaf too? You really are an old lady ;).
Only because we see the Creepy Jerk go through 7 or 8 iterations and it takes the Prey a period of time to realize he’s a Creepy Jerk and not just ‘confident’.
Has nothing to do with women likeing assholes and everything to do with where the observer is standing…like at a Magic show, the audience sees ‘a Magician’, the stage hand sees a schmuck in a worn suit running around like mad, who’s had 4 assistants in as many weeks.
Pssh, decaf. Also, it’s only 4pm.
Not that I’m disputing this but in what ways are men often utter morons about relationships?
I agree with this but I wonder why more women don’t learn to spot them.
Mean Old Lady,
You’ve not heard some women go on about how much they fancy the male characters of Mad Men? It’s not just their looks but alsotheir attitude.