I am having the same issue, I logged in earlier, went from Hoelbrak to Echovald, tried to change mounts and couldn't, relogged thinking that would solve the problem, but now have just been unable to connect.
Unfortunately, I feel by starting a group, I'm obliged to run it as the leader. I literally have no idea what I'm doing here with the mission and I think that is the overall problem. The onus of group creation (whether real or imagined) is the real barrier to entry.