I have returned from the Mines with Bates' information.... but thought I'd explore some first before progressing the main story.... Is there any way to cross the western mountains into the areas beyond? I have gone inch by inch along the mountains on the world map but haven't found any way across.... Does this open up only later in the game? Any help is appreciated. J
You need to find the mountain passes to get beyond the mountains. You'll find the first when you need to go the the elven city. The second will come up after you take a ship to Caladon (can't exactly remember how to find the second one) The pass should be manually locateable somewhere west of Stillwater, but again, you'll need that area when you need to go to the elven city. That's later in game.
Without providing any spoilers, you have two options: First is to force the cross over the mountains, something that you can find out how to do if you read around this website, and the other option is to explore the area you have open to you more thoroughly, since I can practically guarantee you'ven't explored it all.
Gorgoth's pass and Hardin's pass are the passes through the mountains if you follow the main quest you should reach Hardin's pass easily enough
I would say explore the area you're in as much as you can. There's some neat quests to do before you advance the plot.