It's a bit of a hike, but the Hourglass is worth it. Park at the woodyard on the right side of North Side Drive a bit past El Cap Meadow. Leave the dirt road as you would for Gold Wall and follow cairns and faint climbers trails through the forest along the west bank of Ribbon Creek. At some point you will need to cross the creek and continue through the forest and up a final steep section of loose dirt to reach the base.

It's easy to lose sight of the Hourglass on the approach, but there is a long, arching roof several hundred feet higher up on the wall that you can usually see through the trees. Use this arching roof to orient yourself, as the Hourglass is directly below it.

If you do this climb when Ribbon Creek is not running the approach will be significantly easier. You can follow the Ribbon Creek drainage for most of the approach before cutting right up the hillside just before you reach the base of the cliff.