Hey Kathy,
Yes, it is a HUGE mountain! Stunning place, really. I'd highly recommend going.
I was a bit taken back with some folks I saw. Some folks were just not prepared, some clearly not in the best shape, some a bit careless (like one group we saw with lengths rope like 100+ft long between climbers-hitting loose small rocks all over the place on the Cleaver). Some folks were resting ON the trail in tight spots we had to climb over them to get by. Some stayed there for 30min.
I was intimidated by this mountain and its reputation and coming from sea level, trained pretty hard and planned my pre hikes and climbs in the weeks and months before so that I'd be in the best shape on that week I arrived.
Glad I did't go it alone as I was originally contemplating. While on that day, there were enough guided groups to follow I could have probably done it, if any problem happened, I'd be on my own, which is when the group tactic works much better. Any in the event of a fall, you'd have nobody to help stop the arrest if you weren't able to do it yourself. There is some hard, steep ice and packed snow on that peak, much of it overlying crevasses.
The route changes very often, based on snowmelt and the shape of crevasses, so always good to have current beta as the conditions of the snow, route, etc. So, yes a Guide was helpful in this regard to reduce this risk a bit and allow a little more enjoyment and focus on the climb, conserving energy, etc...
