[logifail]

> you get hit with a login gate if you navigate to the results via site:instagram.com

Nope, I just tried it (private browser session, no IG activity from my IP recently)

google.com -> "site:instagram.com nojito" -> results -> www.instagram.com/explore/tags/nojito/ with a page of photos.

Quickly scrolling down the page for several dozen photos does eventually trigger the login box, though.