Brannon and I were originally planning on attempting this route the following weekend but the forecast called for bad weather so we had to improvise and shoot for the good weather window while we had it and ended up with the most perfect fall day! October is the best time of year to run the GCOT for sure as it is just baking down there in the summer all the way through September.
I personally wasn't feeling in the greatest condition for this when we started but it got better as the day warmed up. This was my 3rd run of this distance and Brannon was a great partner for this adventure and a huge mental/emotional support especially in the last 4 miles when the pain really started to settle in.
Going from White Wolf to Tuolumne Meadows, you start with a continuous descent into the canyon for the first 9 miles and then it's essentially a steady, gradual climb the rest of the way, with a couple sections of steeper switch-backs, until you reach the meadows. Great, easily-accessible areas to fill up as you're following the Tuolumne River the whole way once you drop down into the canyon. The trail is definitely pretty rocky and tough to move fast over in some sections but offers a neat diversity of terrain, stunning views, and ecology as you fluctuate between about 4,500 to 8,600 ft of elevation. The Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne is like a more pristine version of Yosemite Valley and a trail I would get back to again in a heartbeat!