Am I in the wrong place/wrong time?

Morining everyone
Bit of a youngster here (read as don't know a whole bunch). And need a little clarification. I've worked my first toon up to 13.5- R/El. Lots of fun. Anyhoo- I worked my way down to Beacon's Perch. Along the way fought lvl 8 monsters- little tuff, but no big deal. Ok, now, I leave out the south end to Lornar's pass and what do I see? Level 22-24 monsters and proceed to team wipe. Ouch.
So the question is...should I not be here? Why is there such a discrepency from one zone to the next?

You want to head west from Beacon's Perch, not south.

to keep low level people like you fron going to Droknars Forge at the other end for the most powerful armor.

you will wind up there doing a bunch more missions.

Ah- I see. It's a soft barrier? That's cool. I don't mind paying my dues, just was curious why I ran into that big ugly fella. I kind of like that soft barrier. If one 'could' run thru - bully for them, otherwise, pack yer bags son.

Thanks,