Touching base on last night's entry, escaping required getting past 3 or 4 watch groups. These should be smaller bands, probably with more muscle, like three hobgoblins and 1 or 2 hobgoblin captains. If they aren't able to get through without alerting them, have them encounter a larger "command" group, with 5 hobgoblins, 2 hobgoblin captains, and a hobgoblin warlord. This group would also have a mid-level warlock as well (I mentioned sorcerer last night, but I think the warlock could be worked up to fit better, though I'll admit I haven't compared them to be certain. Definitely something I'll get to soon).
Once the party deals with these groups and is able to get away, keep them moving until they get clear of the valley and are back near the river. At that point, if they would like to pause and take a short rest, they will have gotten far enough away from danger to be able to do so. Where the adventure leads from here is somewhat up in the air. If they found the folding boat earlier and have held onto it, they will have transportation. If not, what kind of boat will they find? This falls on the DM unless the party made any particular or detailed preparations days ago when they first left the river. Maybe the boat is right there where they left it (or one similar enough), maybe a delivery is on its way past, or maybe their only option is to proceed on foot for now.
I'm going with the last option. They return to the river, and whether they took pains to conceal or protect the boat or not, they find it smashed, looted and scattered along the shore. They will need to proceed on foot. If they prefer, they can head up into the hills around the shoreline and look for some kind of path or trail heading more directly upstream, but they should be reminded of the kobolds and company that poured out of those same hills so recently.
The players can head south along the western bank of the river, continuing upstream. There is a mostly level flood plain flanking the river for several hundred feet on either side at this point, and they can easily pick a path through it. The valley leading to the fortress was near one of the jutting ridges running down out of the mountains to the west, so the path they choose does run close to a steep rocky wall around the bend in the river.
Once they come around the bend, they see the river runs mostly straight (meandering from left to right in broad turns) for what looks like a couple of miles. The hillside drops back to a more gentle slope on their right as they move south upstream. From here on there are more signs of civilization. You quickly come across the makings of a rudimentary trail running along the western shore of the river, and on some of the steep rises on the far side of the river valley there appear to be mine openings, and evidence of roads. As yet, there are no visible signs of inhabitants. The lowland valley you are walking through is flattish, with small ridges and rises in places, but none standing out. There are small trees clustered in many spots near the bends of the river, with wide sandbars and sharply carved overhangs in many places as you walk. In the latter, there are often falls of dead wood and broken branches.
After two miles of this terrain, the trail you have been following shows signs of greater traffic as it nears one of the sandbars in the river. Coming over one of the small ridges, you notice the trail continues on upstream, but forks with a branch turning to cross the river. The river crossing is a semi-permanent crossing, with stone abutments built out from each bank, with a large gap between them for boats to navigate through. The abutments are cribbed, with a ten foot wide gap of open water between them. On the far shore, the trail becomes a discernible road running straight up into the hills toward the distant mines, and south along the edge of the river toward a small hamlet tucked up on another of the small rises that dot this area. From the river, you can see the road leading into the village a half mile away, and at least three houses on the top of the rise. Gentle smoke rising from their chimneys issues you an inviting call.
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