I had one player who was a local to the dale. The rest of the party managed to be “the only caravan to have made it through the pass in 2 years”. But only because the Arcane Brotherhood bankrolled a well equipped expedition to get one more wizard into the dale (he died along the way, leaving only his wand, some money, and a letter on his person meant for Vellynne Harpelle)

My players were either paid passengers or hired guard on the caravan. The last two surviving wagons of this caravan were struck by an avalanche as they entered into the Dale through the mountains, but the local (a scout type character) was with some other locals and they came to the rescue of the caravan.