Hi! Me and a friend are coming down to XIAN 5th of May to trek Mt. Huashan!

Coming down 5th of May and Im wondering about getting a guide? Is it necessary?
From the things I've read this is the plan I guess:
- Go from the airport in Xian to Mt. Huashan (what do you recommend? bus, taxi train?)
- Find a hotel in the Mt. Huashan area. Stay overnight and start trekking early in the morning.
- Arrive at the peaks you will find hotel or hostel, stay one night there and continue early in the morning to get to the 5 peaks?
- Finish around mid day and take the cable cart down.
- Finish with trekking and just do other stuff.

So you talked about getting an agency to book hotels or hostels at the top? Have you heard of people reaching the peak with the hotels and had to go down from there due the lack of space? If so, what is the agency i should use to book a room for 2?
And, if we start walking from the foot. Is it good marked with signs in English on where to go and km length (or time it takes)? I guess there is a tourism stand down at the foot that we can talk to before we start the walk so we can choose which routes to take etc.
But this is generally the stuff I'm wondering about. I read that you have to get down before 1900 in high seasons so I dont know how many hours it takes to reach the top from the bottom total walking time? 12 hours?
We are in good physical shape so it shouldn't be a problem to walk up, just be careful as I've read.

Thank you for all answers!
Thomas Maeland

Thomas.mlandgmail.com