I was watching the weather Channel this evening and Creek Stewart's survival show came on, which is generally fairly decent ( it is far better than some of its competition). A couple had gone hiking in Big Bend State Park (Texas -Chihuahuan Desert) and low and behold! Scenes appeared with saguaro cactus, the signature plant of the Arizonan Sonora desert. Now I readily admit that this did not bear on the significant points presented in the piece, but it does make you wonder - where do they draw the line on authenticity?

This was definitely not a good start....There are sigificant differences between the two deserts, although one gets mighty thirsty in either, depending on the season.

Sounds to me like the couple got really lost, and hiked 1,000 miles from Chihuahuan to Sonora. If only they had stopped by Tucson on the way, they would have been rescued!

I hadn't heard of him before somehow.

They probably draw the line when the footage is not at all related to the topic. I doubt that they would use footage from the rainforest for a show in the desert.
Maybe they needed a few extra minutes for the show and someone recalled the deleted scenes from a different location. Most of the audience wont notice anyway. Creating footage is expensive and some might be tempted to reuse what they have.

I have been on about 9 backpacking trips out to Big Bend Ranch State Park (3 on Rancherias Loop, 6 to Solitario). I sorta remember the couples story. For the tv show, it was probably easier to shoot footage closer to the California studios (assuming that is where it is) than to take a more expensive trip to a remote area of Texas just to show a desert. Good pick up on the cactus..lol

If they wanted to save money, the producers could have stopped somewhere in California (Indio or thereabouts) in the Mohave desert, which does not have the distinctive cacti of the Sonoran.

I guess they just grabbed stock footage, indicating a certain carelessness, and low standards for veracity, but that isn't really all that surprising in contemporary TV. I just thin Creek Stewart would be a bit better....

What Bogus Cacti? Say it Ain't so Joe!

Whats next? Zombies?

I found that it was not a bad series, especially contrasted with some of the garbage that finds its way to Weather Channel.

IIRC, the particular episode, The couple that got lost frequently visited another Federal park for short hikes. In the day in question, the park was closed and the were told to visit another park down the road. (with which they were not familiar.) The did not have a topo or detailed map, and the trails were poorly marked frequently with rock cairns.

Somehow they got off trail and it only went downhill (if you will) from there. Of course Creek followed a reenactment and made sensible suggestions. At one point they found water and even though in a desert they elected to move on.

Basic story is here:

https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2013/10/06/journalist-cathy-frye-found

or

https://www.rd.com/true-stories/survival/survival-lost-big-bend-national-park/