In recent years, tourists have walked an hour through the forest to the spot to be photographed beside the new "oldest tree in the world." Due to its growing fame, the national forestry body has had to increase the number of park rangers and restrict access to protect the Great Grandfather. In 2020, Barichivich and Lara managed to extract a sample from the Great Grandfather using the longest manual drill that exists, but they did not reach the center. 'Symbols of resistence'This is about more than just a competition to enter the record books though, as the Great Grandfather is a font of valuable information. The Great Grandfather is also considered a time capsule that can offer a window into the past.