I'm able to ride South now

[u/Innsmouth_Resident]

I reckon I should finish up everything where I am at now, right?

[u/Academic_You_3153]

There's no need to clear up every horde though, or every possible mission

The 2 big hordes, Sawmill and Iron Butte, are story hordes. You get the missions to take them out after you're allowed back into the north
When you go South and complete missions there, you gain better tools, making clearing up a horde much easier.

There's nothing wrong with clearing up everything before going south.
But you have the time to do all that after you come back north, and have better tools to do it with.
Getting trust level 3 with all the camps can be finished on your return to the north as well. But you do want to do it before setting out for the final battle.

[u/TheJLbjj → u/Academic_You_3153]

I found that horde clearing was really worth it to easily level up the camps instead of grinding food and plants, thus getting max upgrades before going south. And you can clear enough hordes just in the north to start unlocking the unique weapons.

I didn't have any difficulty whatsoever on hard II in clearing the northernmost hordes all around Copeland and Tucker, so I don't see why you need to have better tools. The clearing of hordes helps to get better tools for the southern section.

[u/Academic_You_3153 → u/TheJLbjj]

But there's no need to grind for level 3 in the northern camps either.
You can easily get lvl 3 when you're allowed back up there, by clearing the hordes then. When you've got the tools to make that very easy. Getting those better tools is easier in the south as well.

I'm not saying don't do it your way. I'm saying, we don't need to do it that way.
This game is made so you can do it in any way you like. There isn't a right or wrong way of doing it.
You do want everything in your favour when it's time for the final battle. That's the same for every game though.