New here, new to mountain biking.

My lovely new Specialized Myka Elite came with cages on the pedals. They didn't bother me on my first serious ride with my hardcore DH, but I was really envious of his clipless set up on our last ride. The cages are a real pain on rocky uphills (can't quite get the second foot in, then the cage catches on big bumps). I felt like at least a couple of my many falls and near-falls were due to my stupid pedals.

I'm wanting to go clipless, but it seems so spendy! Is it worth it, or would I be better off just getting rid of the cages and using regular pedals?

Thanks.