My hiking buddy, Reepicheep, had an odd day.
At the first stop, he was sleeping in the car, and I did not notice until my fourth cache visit that he was missing. I realized that he was probably still in the car, but I still had to retrace my path back to make sure.
He was with me when I left the car the second time, but somewhere along the way, he jumped off my shoulder for a private adventure. I did not notice his absence until I had arrived home. Instead of the delicious meal and soothing bath that I had been eagerly anticipating, I had to climb back into my car, return to the park, and once more retrace my path until I located the adventurous little scamp.
His excuse? A desert fox had snickered at him. He thought it needed a good thrashing.