Ambush

Getting into the valley to locate the stone giants and recover the frost axe was one thing, but getting out is proving to be more challenging. As you start making your way back toward the river, the sense of movement on the ridge above to your right grows more noticeable. The rising howls on the wind give a name to the movement, wolves. Knowing the trail runs through a narrow section just ahead, the danger of ambush is high. With the sun fading fast, your options are to try pressing ahead, braving the almost certain risk of ambush and a battle under low light in the narrow canyon, or to retreat back to the giants' house and use it for shelter. The wolves are likely to track you down and attack, but you will have the benefit of familiar ground and shelter to help defend yourselves.
Should the players opt to hurry on, the wolves will drop into the canyon ahead and behind you at a steep narrow location. There are two winter wolves and a pack of 10 wolves. The winter wolves will leap into the ravine ahead of and behind the party, and will attack with their breath weapons, blocking the movement of the party forward or back. The other wolves will leap down into the midst of the party and attack. The wolves are able to leap and scramble their way up out of the ravine if they are badly injured, or wish to regroup. If any characters want to try, they need to succeed on a DC20 Athletics check to be able to scale the wall. If they fail by more than 5, they take 1d6 damage from slipping and falling back to the canyon floor.
If they opt to return to the stone giants' stronghold, they can defend themselves against the wolves from their. Let them give any instructions for watches and positioning. The wolves know paths up into the hills above, and will try to skirt the main trail to drop onto the ledge and attack. The winter wolves will remain in the valley, openly howling and taunting the players, but they do have sense to remain 150' away to stay out of easy range. When the other wolves have made their way onto the ledge, the winter wolves will charge for the trail ramping up to the ledge.