I parked on Tioga Pass road at the entrance to White Wolf Campground (the campground was closed for the season, so this was about a mile from the finish trailhead at White Wolf. I spent about 15 minutes with my thumb out and hitched a ride to Tuolumne Meadows (thanks Forrest and Jeremy from Vegas).
It was a cold but sunny start, and the route starts with a couple easy miles in the meadows before starting the descent into the canyon. The rest of the ~20 mile downhill is mostly technical, jumbled granite characteristic of Yosemite. It's slow going, but runnable and every step brings you into more beautiful terrain. Gigantic cliffs on either side, big boulders everywhere. The bottom of the canyon is lush gigantic redwoods transitioning to oaks further down. The Tuolumne forms pools and waterfalls everywhere. I can't imagine how good it is in early summer when the river is full.
I started with three bottles and filled them up in the Tuolumne before the bridge crossing at mile 20. The route then crosses the river, follows it for another 1-2 flat miles, and then starts to climb abruptly up to White Wolf. This is a 4000'+ climb right at the end, which is brutal after such a long and technical downhill. It was perfect weather, but was feeling hot the first mile or two up in the sun. There are a few creek crossings on the climb, which were merciful, but the climb is rocky, steep, and never-ending. I suffered mightily the last few miles up, even the last couple rolling miles to the finish. I tagged the trailhead at 5:10:16 and then staggered the one mile back to my car on Tioga.
I didn't see a single person all day. A couple bears at the bottom of the canyon and a herd of deer on the final climb and the intensely beautiful route kept me company.
What a route. It's right next to very heavily trafficked areas in the National Park but is remote and isolated, and incredibly scenic and fun. I think the time can go a bit faster if someone can avoid exploding on the final climb, which may be easier said than done. I do think this direction is faster, because going uphill for 20 technical miles, even if more gradual, cannot be faster.