That's good to know that you don't actually have stress fractures, Catrin! I never went to the doc for mine so am just conjecturing that mine might have been that, back in the day. Mine may have actually been like yours, but I just know they hurt and pretty much ended my high-impact aerobic days. I switched to low impact and step classes and did much better. Don't do any of that now and have not had any further shin splint issues from hiking or my short runs for decades, thank goodness.

I think you were smart to cancel the hike, but I know how frustrated you are! Here's hoping you'll heal up quickly from here on out.