Smokies Centennial Challenge - Hike 100

Program Overview
This year we are celebrating the Centennial of the National Park Service. To honor the first 100 years of the National Park Service and launch into the next century, the Park Superintendent has committed to hiking 100 miles of park trails during 2016 -- and he invites you to join in on this challenge!

Whether you are new to hiking in the Smokies or have seen most or all the trails in the park before, we encourage you to set a goal of reaching 100 miles during this special year of celebration, between January 1-December 6, 2016. You may hike any 100 miles of maintained trails in the park. Your miles can include everything from front country nature trails to the extensive trail network in the backcountry. You may hike the same trail repeatedly or different trails; and you may hike them solo, with a group or even with a guide. The goal is to inspire you to explore and enjoy the many benefits the park has to offer. More information.

Explore the park website for information about hiking safety, trail recommendations, weather, road and trail closures, and the park's trail map. If you plan to include overnight trips in your hiking plan, be sure to obtain a reservation and permit for all overnight stays in the backcountry.
When you are ready to take on this challenge, plan your hikes and get out on a trail! Download a mileage log that you may use to keep track of your miles. Or, you can purchase one from the Great Smoky Mountains Association here for $1.00.

After you have hiked 100 miles this year, send an email to let us know! You will then receive information about the Hike 100 Celebration on Thursday, December 8, 2016 to receive your commemorative "Smokies Centennial Challenge - Hike 100" pin!

Sample 100 Mile Hike Plan

Gatlinburg Trail - 4 miles

Little River & Cucumber Gap Trails Loop - 6 miles

Chimney Tops Trail - 4 miles

Porters Creek Trail - 8 miles

Ramsay Cascades - 8 miles

Abrams Falls Trail to the Falls - 6 miles

Gregory Bald Trail to the Bald - 9 miles

Trillium Gap Trail to Grotto Falls - 3 miles

Laurel Falls Trail - 3 miles

Forney Ridge Trail to Andrews Bald - 5 miles

Big Creek Trail to Mouse Creek Falls - 5 miles

Smokemont Loop Trail - 7 miles

Noland Divide to Lonesome Pine Overloop - 7 miles

Deep Creek & Sunkota Ridge Loop - 13 miles
Cataloochee Divide Trail - 10 miles

Oconaluftee River Trail - 3 miles

Any 100 miles count! Superintendent Cash's 100 Mile Plan is subject to change due to all kinds of factors - like weather, trail conditions, and fitness level of those who hike with him. The important part is that the miles he will cover by the end of the year will be 100.

Hike Events with the Superintendent
In the spirit of the Centennial, many of Superintendent Cash's hikes will be with youth who may be experiencing their first such adventure in the park. There are also public events which will give you the opportunity to hike alongside the Superintendent. These include two front country hikes that are open to anyone who would like to attend and two backcountry hikes which are each limited to 20 hikers. This limit is due to our concern for the resources in the backountry, our attention to Leave No Trace and hiker safety. To reserve a space on one of these backcounty hikes, send us an email and we will contact you with further information.

Front country Hikes, Open to Everyone:

Saturday, August 20, 2016 - Gatlinburg Trail

Saturday, December 3, 2016 - Oconaluftee River Trail

* Check back for more details about these hikes *

Backcountry Hikes, Limited to a maximum of 20 hikers each:

Saturday, June 25, 2016 - a trail in North Carolina

Saturday, October 8, 2016 - a trail in Tennessee

* Email us if you are interested in a spot *

Latest Trail Adventures
Check here throughout the year to see pictures and read about some of the latest trails that Superintendent Cash has explored. You might see something you will want to add to your list!

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  Photo Collection: Smokies Centennial Challenge Hikes
  

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  Photo Collection: Smokies Centennial Challenge Hikes

Share your thoughts
We welcome you to share your comments and reflections about your hiking experiences as you cover your 100 miles. Email your thoughts to Superintendent Cash and he will reply to some of your messages throughout the year. You can also share you photos and reflections on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GreatSmokyMountainsNPS in the "visitor posts" section and/or on your own Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts and tag it with #Hike100. 

Smokies hiker Jenny Bennett's cause of death announced; Memorial hike planned

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials received the final autopsy report from the
Sevier County Medical Examiner’s Office for Susan J. "Jenny" Bennett, of Sylva,
NC and have concluded that her cause of death was environmental hypothermia.

Bennett was reported missing and discovered off trail by rangers in the Greenbrier area
of the park above backcountry campsite 31 on June 8. The report concludes that Bennett
died of environmental hypothermia due to cold exposure from partial submersion in Porter’s
Creek.

Jenny Bennett hiking in the Smokies.

However, she did have a toxic level of diphenhydramine concentration in her blood, which is considered a significant contributing factor in her death and points toward an intentional overdose, according to the Medical Examiner's Office. Diphenhydramine is used to treat common colds and allergies.

Bennett was found in a sitting position in the creek with her head resting on rocks. According to the final autopsy report, she had bruises on her right hip and elbow consistent with a fall. However, she did not have any internal or musculoskeletal trauma.

Bennett, age 62, was an avid hiker in the Smoky Mountains and maintained a blog about her trips. She had been a member of the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club and often liked to hike off trail in the park. She was also a published author and blogger. One of her older blog sites, jennybennett.net, chronicles her off-trail hiking adventures in the Smokies, and a more recent publication was her hiking blog Endless Streams and Forests. She published a murder mystery, Murder at the Jump Off, set in the Smokies, and a contemporary fiction novel, The Twelve Streams of Leconte.

Her brother Peter Bennett, of Bozeman, Montana, who originally reported his sister missing, had this to say about her death on her Endless Streams and Forests blog:

"Jenny was planning on moving to Vermont to be closer to her sister Betsy at the beginning of June. She had packed most of her belongings and must have decided to make one last hike to her favorite area of the Smokies. She went up Porter’s Creek (setting for her first novel, Murder at the Jumpoff) and never returned. It was about a week before her landlord went to the house she was renting and realized that she had never left. He called me (Peter) and we were both very concerned. A search was launched, her car was found at the Porter’s Creek trailhead, and her body was found the next morning."

He continued, "Details of what actually happened to Jenny are unclear. The Park Service launched an investigation after her body was found, but they still don’t know everything. It is likely that we will never really know what happened. We do know that Jenny died in her favorite place in the world, the beautiful Smoky Mountains."

Her obituary in the Knoxville News-Sentinel gave a moving glimpse into her life.

"Jenny has always had an adventurous spirit and hitchhiked across Europe when she was 18. She went to college at New College in Sarasota, Florida, where she received a Bachelors degree in philosophy. She was also very interested in writing and editing, and earned a Masters degree in creative writing a few years later. In 1980 Jenny married Chris Hebb. They moved to Knoxville, where Chris went to school at the University of Tennessee. While living in Knoxville, Jenny was employed as a writer for a journal about the coal market. It was during this period that she began hiking in the Smoky Mountains and joined the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club. A few years later Jenny divorced Chris and she moved north to Gloucester Massachusetts."

"She spent many years exploring the White Mountains in New England with her dear friend, Bob Parlee. Her accomplishments included summiting all of the highest mountains of New England in summer and winter. Jenny traveled to many locations all around the world. She frequently summited the highest point wherever she traveled. In 2009, Jenny returned to the Smoky Mountains and lived in North Carolina. Her many off trail adventures in the Smokies are well known to her family, friends, and members of the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club."

Memorial Hike planned Sept. 13 by Smoky Mountains Hiking Club

The Smoky Mountains Hiking Club has announced a memorial hike for Jenny on Sept. 13, 2015, on the Porters Creek Trail, with a potluck lunch of fellowship and reflection at the Porters Creek Pavilion. Times and details to be announced as they are confirmed with information on their website, www.smhclub.org.

Authorities positively identify hiker as Jenny Bennett, friends start memorial wall on GoSmokies

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have positively identified the body found in the Greenbrier area of the Great Smokies as that of 62-year-old Jenny Bennett of Sylva, NC. She was reported missing by her brother Peter Bennett of Bozeman, Montana when she wasn't at home on the day she was supposed to be moved to Vermont.

Jenny Bennett (from her blog)

He believed she had been on a final hike before leaving on May 30 or 31. Movers were supposed to show up on June 1 and her landlord called her brother on Saturday, June 6, when she was officially reported missing.

Bennett was an avid off-trail hiker in the Smokies and was also a published author and blogger. One of her older blog sites is jennybennett.net, where she chronicled her off-trail hiking adventures in the Smokies, and more recently she published the hiking blog Endless Streams and Forests. She published a murder mystery, Murder at the Jump Off, set in the Smokies, and a contemporary fiction novel, The Twelve Streams of Leconte.

GSMNP Spokesperson Dana Soehn reported that there is currently no suspicion of foul play and said there were no obvious signs of animal attack. Bennett's vehicle was found at the Porters Flats trailhead Sunday night and her body was found about 9:30 Monday morning about a half-mile above backcountry campsite 31 off-trail following an intensive search. Her cause of death has not yet been released.

Bennett was a member of the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club and also an avid contributor to the GoSmokies blog site, where shortly before she went missing her posts were deleted. Her hiking friends have started a memorial site there to honor their friend and fellow hiker, Remembering Jenny Bennett.

You can read earlier reports on her disappearance by scrolling down to previous blog posts as events unfolded.

UPDATE: Mother and 16-year-old son missing in Clingmans Dome area of Smokies found at 2 p.m. today

UPDATE: Rangers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park have found a missing woman and her son from Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin who had been reported being lost in the park on Sunday, June 7.

Christy Barns, 40, and her son, Casey, 16, had sent a text message to family members on Sunday evening at 8:38 p.m. stating they were lost and needed help. Rangers were notified and were able to locate the individuals’ vehicle at Clingmans Dome. The ground search was initiated on Monday morning and the pair was soon found in good condition along the Forney Ridge trail a little before 2:00 p.m.

The park had mobilized an incident management team and deployed search teams to the trails surrounding Clingmans Dome. The search involved 30 National Park Services employees with 15 of those actively searching in the field. The initial search focused on trails which carried the highest probability of where the pair may have been located. 

We reported earlier:

A search is underway for a mother and her 16-year-old son from Wisconsin, who are missing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near the Clingmans Dome area. Dana Soehn, spokesperson for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, said officials believe the pair was day hiking but that no other information is available.

They were reported missing Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. when they didn't return from their hike. The search for the missing hikers began Monday morning. More details will hopefully be known later today, Soehn said. These hikers are not to be confused with hikers lost Saturday in the Roaring Fork area who were reunited with their party.

At 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park's highest point. It is the highest point in Tennessee and the second highest point east of the Mississippi. It's a popular Park destination and is located in both North Carolina and Tennessee. The peak is accessible after driving Clingmans Dome Road from Newfound Gap, and then walking a steep half-mile trail. A paved trail leads to a 54-foot observation tower. The Appalachian Trail crosses Clingmans Dome, marking the highest point along its 2,144-mile journey.

Body believed to be that of missing hiker Jenny Bennett found in Greenbrier area of the Smokies

Investigators are being called in to positively identify a body that has been found in the Greenbrier area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park believed to be that of missing hiker Jenny Bennett, 62, of Sylva, NC. Her brother, Peter Bennett of Bozeman, Montana, had reported her missing on Saturday, but she had actually been missing since sometime before June 1, the day she was supposed to meet movers at her home in Sylva for an impending move to Vermont.

Jenny Bennett (Photo from her blog)

Jenny Bennett (Photo by
Joe Guenther)

At 11:00 today, when Park officials were holding a media briefing at Greenbrier, Peter Bennett reported on his GoSmokies blog, "A body has been found that matches Jenny's description in the area that they were looking for her.  A team of investigators is being sent in to positively identify the body and determine what happened."

Search operations began early Monday morning. At 9:30 a.m. a body was found behind back-country campsite 31. Rangers said they strongly believe the body to be that of Bennettt, although a positive identification has not yet been made. Based on clothing and the location of the body, rangers felt it was indeed Bennett.

The Public Affairs Department of the GSMNP released the following at 11:44 a.m. Monday: "Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers believe to have discovered the body of reported missing hiker, Jenny Bennett, 62, of Sylva, NC in the Lester Prong area of Greenbrier above campsite 31 on Monday, June 8. It was reported to park officials on Sunday, June 7 that Bennett was missing and possibly in the park. Her vehicle was located at the Porters Flat Trailhead later that evening. An area wide search operation of trained man trackers was underway when she was found by rangers."

Bennett was an avid hiker in the Smoky Mountains and maintained a blog about her trips. She was a member of the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club and often liked to hike off trail in the park.

Her brother believed she went missing when she had taken one last hike prior to her move last weekend. Great Smoky Mountains National Park personnel found her red car at the Porters Creek Trailhead last night and have focused their search in that area, which is the in the Greenbrier area of the Park.

Bennett, an avid hiker, author and blogger, is well-known to the hiking community for her toughness, preparedness and her love of off-trail hiking in the Smokies. She chronicled many of her outings on her blog, Endless Streams and Forests. She had mentioned in her last blog entry on May 27 that she had been experiencing depression and a bum knee, causing alarm for her fellow hikers, family and friends.

Jenny Bennett (Photo by Dave Landreth)

Many of her hiking friends felt she might be attempting to pay tribute to her mentor, Charlie Klabunde, whose memorial is a short hike from the Lester Prong headwaters and accessed from the Porters Creek Trailhead. In her blog she mentioned that she had tried to make the trip before but her knee had given out and she had to turn back.

National Park Spokesperson Molly Schroer said earlier today that a search operation was indeed underway in the Greenbrier area and that further details would be available at the media briefing. More details will be reported as they emerge.

Peter Bennett reported in a blog post on GoSmokies.com on Saturday that Bennett's landlord called him Saturday regarding his sister's whereabouts. "I received a call from her landlord in Sylva yesterday (Saturday, June 6) morning. The Jackson County Sheriff was there starting to do his investigation. She was supposed to meet the movers at her house in Sylva on Monday morning (June 1) to start her move north, but when the movers arrived she was not there. My sister in Massachusetts was expecting to see her on Wednesday, but Jenny did not arrive."

Peter Bennett reported today on the Hike the Smokies Facebook group: "I would like to clarify how the situation with my sister Jenny unfolded. I knew that she was going to be moving from NC to Vermont starting June 1 and I was thinking about her in that regard last week. I did not hear anything from her last week, but that is not unusual because we normally only connect when something important has happened. I did not have an idea that she was missing until Saturday June 6 when I received a call from her landlord in Sylva. He told me that her belongings were still at the house in Sylva, some things had been packed up to move and other things were still unpacked. He told me that the movers had arrived on Monday June 1 and she was not there."

He continued, "I talked with the Jackson County Sheriff deputy who was there and he told me they were going to treat this as a missing person case and start searching for her car. I told him that she was a member of the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club and that she was probably up one of the trails in the area. I was told that the Sheriff's department was going to follow up and search the trail heads for her car. I gave the deputy my number and expected to hear back from them within a few hours. By the end of the day I still had not heard back from the Sheriffs department and I became more concerned. I contacted the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club through email and posted on the Go Smokies blog. It was only after I posted on the blog that people in NC and TN became involved and her car was eventually found at the Porter's Creek trail head."

More information will be reported as the investigation continues.

Missing hiker Jenny Bennett's car reportedly found at Porters Creek Trailhead in Great Smokies

Porters Creek Trail. (Photo from Meetup.com
Asheville Hiking Group)

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Rangers have reportedly found the car of missing hiker Jenny Bennett of Sylva, NC, who was reported missing after she failed to meet movers at her house on June 1. Her brother, Peter Bennett of Bozeman, Montana, believed that his sister had gone hiking in the Smokies on May 30 or 31 when she went missing.

GoSmokies.com blogger and avid hiker Mike Maples reported on GoSmokies that her car, possibly a red Subaru Impreza, has been found at the Porters Creek Trailhead Sunday night.

Peter Bennett reported in a blog post on GoSmokies.com that Bennett's landlord called him yesterday regarding his sister's whereabouts. "I received a call from her landlord in Sylva yesterday (Saturday, June 6) morning. The Jackson County Sheriff was there starting to do his investigation. She was supposed to meet the movers at her house in Sylva on Monday morning (June 1) to start her move north, but when the movers arrived she was not there. My sister in Massachusetts was expecting to see her on Wednesday, but Jenny did not arrive."

Bennett said he has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the National Park Service so that he can get information and was "waiting to hear from the search party." 

Jenny Bennett is a freelance editor and avid off-trail hiker who writes the hiking blog Endless Streams and Forests, 

Here is a link to the earlier post on her brother's report of Bennett going missing. MISSING HIKER.

Porters Creeek Trail map.

Jenny Bennett, avid off-trail hiker, reported missing by brother after apparent hike over a week ago

Freelance editor and avid off-trail hiker Jenny Bennett of Sylva, NC, who writes the hiking blog Endless Streams and Forests, is missing following what relatives believe was a hike last weekend. According to a post on the Facebook group Hike the Smokies by her friend Eleanor Hail of Knoxville, Bennett has not been seen or heard from since going on the hike and no one knows what hike she took, so her whereabouts are unknown.

Jenny Bennett (Photo provided by
Joe Guenther on Hike the Smokies)

According to the post, Bennett was supposed to meet someone at her home last Monday but never showed up. Hail said authorities had been notified. Hail noted that Bennett had mentioned she would be off the internet for a while, although she posted in her blog on May 27 about being in the Balsam Mountain area hiking. She has also mentioned that she will be moving to Vermont soon.

Her hiking friends have mentioned that she is an avid off-trail hiker. Mike Maples, an avid hiker and GoSmokies blogger, wrote, "One thing for sure, she isn't lost. She is the author of "Murder at the Jump-Off." Been hiking these mountains doing the toughest of hikes. Up the Bunion, up the Jump Off, up some of the most remote sections of the Park. Hope to hear something soon."

Bennett's brother Peter Bennett of Bozeman, Montana posted the following on GoSmokies.com:

Jenny Bennett
|Photo provided
by Joe Guenther on
Hike the Smokies)

Jenny Bennett of Sylva NC is missing. Jenny is an avid off trail hiker in the Smoky Mountains. She probably went on a hike on Saturday May 30 or Sunday May 31. She was supposed to be met at her house on Monday June 1 and was not there. She has not been seen since. Because she is an off trail hiker, it is quite possible that she was somewhere in the Smokies and had an accident. If you know Jenny and have an idea where she might have gone or if you happen to see her car ( a red Subaru I think ) please contact the Jackson County NC Sheriff as soon as possible.

I am her brother Peter Bennett and I live in Bozeman Montana.

In her most recent blog post, Bennett wrote of some physical problems and depression. "In the past couple of weeks, as I have been preparing for my move to Northern Vermont, I have been fixated on getting in one last expedition—despite the bum knee, despite the fact that I’ve allowed myself to get somewhat out of shape. I hope this doesn’t sound too personal: I absolutely believe it is the right thing to do to move to New England, mainly because I can be of assistance to my sister. At the same time, I have struggled with my loss of the Smokies. I have been dealing with depression, and have not kept up my regular exercise routine as well as I could," Bennett wrote.

Jenny Bennett (Photo by Dave Landreth)

Her hiking friends are spreading the word far and wide in hopes of getting some word on their friend and have expressed their concern that she could be injured on or off a Smokies trail.

Photo of Jenny Bennett from her blog.

The car she would have been driving, according to friends, was a red Subaru Impreza four-door like this, although some have identified her car as a Toyota Echo.

Calls to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Jackson County NC Sheriff's Department have yielded no new information as to Bennett's whereabouts or any information about her status as a missing person. If you have any information about Jenny Bennett, you may call the Jackson County NC Sheriff's Department at 828-586-8901.

Bear drags 16-year-old sleeping backpacker out of hammock, Park closes trails and campsites

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have closed several trails and backcountry campsites in the Hazel Creek section of the park due to a bear incident occurring at approximately 10:30 p.m. on June 6. A 16-year old male from Ohio was pulled from his hammock by a bear and injured at backcountry campsite 84 which is 4.5 miles from the Fontana Lake shoreline near Hazel Creek in NC. The father was able to drive the bear off from the area.

Immediately following the incident, the young man and his father hiked to the lakeshore where they were transported across the lake to Cable Cove boat dock by campers at backcountry campsite 86 who had a boat. Graham County Rescue EMS transported them to a landing zone where the injured party was flown by Mountain Area Medical Airlift (MAMA) to Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC at approximately 3:00 a.m. this morning.

The young man received multiple injuries including lacerations to the head. He remained conscious throughout the incident and is in stable condition at this time.

Park rangers and wildlife biologists are responding to the backcountry campsite area to investigate the scene and to clear the area of other campers. Hazel Creek Trail, Jenkins Ridge Trail, Bone Valley Trail, Cold Spring Gap Trail and backcountry campsites 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, and 88 are closed until further notice. Derrick Knob shelter along the Appalachian Trail has also been closed to camping until officials can determine whether recent bear activity at the shelter may also be related to the same bear.

“While incidents with bears are rare, we ask park visitors to take necessary precautions while hiking in bear country and comply with all backcountry closures,” said Superintendent Cassius Cash. “The safety of our visitors is our number one priority.”

The father and son were on a multi-day backpacking trip in the Smokies. Both campers were sleeping in hammocks approximately 10 feet apart and had all equipment, food, and packs properly stored on aerial food storage cables.

For more information on what to do if you encounter a bear while hiking, please visit the park website athttp://www.nps.gov/grsm/naturescience/black-bears.htm. To report a bear incident, please call 865-436-1230.

Pocket-sized water bottle could make plastic water bottles a thing of the past; perfect for backpacking

Every minute, U.S. consumers use and throw away 90,000 disposable water bottles. That’s 50 billion water bottles per year – or – 30 million TONS of plastic waste each year in the U.S. alone.

The Hydaway collapsible water bottle being developed by Niki Singlaub (and 4,602 backers) could make a big dent in those numbers ... it collapses to take up minimal space in your backpack, and is a handy alternative to disposable plastic water bottles - it folds down easily and can be carried in your pocket, hung from a carabiner or neatly tucked away in your gear pack.

Singlaub's Kickstarter fundraising efforts end Friday, May 15, and he has already well exceeded his $20,000 fundraising goal, currently at $207,572. If you want to get in on the ground level by pledging money, you'll get a piece of the action ... anything from one of the first Hydaway bottles produced to multiple bottles and travel cases depending on your pledge level. You can get on board by clicking his campaign link here.  The Hydaway is made from food-grade silicone and BPA-free caps.

Speaking of BPA, when I was reading about his handy invention, I was reminded of camping trips with my parents in the '60s and '70s and drinking out of those little collapsible camping cups made of metal. Remember those? They had neat camping scenes etched on the lids and made the water taste so cold. However, I believe it's been found that drinking from a metal cup isn't healthy and perhaps leaches toxic BPAs.

I've read that exposure to arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and tin has been shown to affect the blood system and that tin and certain other metals are toxic and cause infertility in males. Oh well, those little folding cups sure were fun when I was a kid. That was back in the day when you had no qualms about filling up in the fresh, clear mountain streams ... another practice some people frown on nowadays.

Prefer a hot, steaming cup of java to water? Another entrepreneurial venture ready to hit the market is the Smash Cup (soon to be renamed), a new collapsible coffee cup that gives coffee drinkers a way to grab their caffeine fix on the go and then store the empty mug in their pocket.

It's portable, reusable and eco-friendly and collapses when empty to fit in handbags, backpacks and even your pocket. Something to point out is the fact that the company has encountered a legal battle over their name because of alleged infringement, so they're seeking suggestions for a new name for the cup. You can read all about it on their Kickstarter page and offer your suggestion for a fitting name.

Very handy for taking up less space when packing the camper or on-the-run.

This is what that extra shoelace hole is used for. I wish I knew this earlier!

Have you ever wondered why there is an extra shoelace hole at the top of your shoe?  Many running and hiking shoes have the extra hole and most people don’t ever use it.  Instead, they skip threading the lace through the last top hole and tie them as usual.  After watching THIS VIDEO you will now know why they are there and how to use them to your advantage.

The extra holes can be used to prevent blisters on your heels and stop your feet from cramming forward into the front of the shoe.  When you tie laces using the “heel lock” or “lace lock” technique it creates more friction between the laces at the top of the shoe which are closest to your ankle.  This serves to make and keep the heel/ankle area tight and snug in place without having to re-tighten your whole shoe.  Even if you do not have the extra shoelace hole you can still use the method on the top hole instead.

Here is how to tie the “lace lock.”  Begin by inserting the lace in backwards through the top hole so that you create a small loop on each side of the shoe.  Cross your laces and insert them each into the loop on the opposite side then cinch them down.  Be sure to go down and not up because cinching upwards will leave the loop hanging out and that is not good.  By pulling down towards the shoe you end up creating a nice tight lock that will keep your shoe in place and snug.  Finish by tying your shoe as you normally would and you’re good to go!

It's hard to visualize without watching the video, so be sure to click the link in the first paragraph to see how it's done.