If you can spin an atgeir and use a bow, you can do the mountains. I never really trained up my parry skill because of that whole half-second-off-means-ow thing. Atgeir stuns things without having to worry about it, but you've got to eat your stamina foods.

Moder is a little trickier for those who are not combat savvy, but there are guides and Youtube videos that can help. Moving terrain and/or placing campfires to prevent wolves and golems from joining in is a good idea.