A massive, glacier draped mountain, Mount Balfour dominates the Waputik Icefield. Its steep east-facing cliffs overlook the upper Yoho Valley. The name "Balfour" was originally applied by James Hector to a peak between the Mistaya and Blaeberry Rivers, and it is possible that the present day Mount Chephren or Howse Peak was the one he had in mind. Whether one approaches on the Trans-Canada Highway from the east or the west, Mount Balfour is the first peak on the Continental Divide which is seen. John Hutton Balfour attended the University of Edinburgh where he obtained his medical doctorate in 1831. He subsequently commenced medical practice, but in 1840 began giving lectures in botany and in 1841 was appointed professor of botany at the University of Glasgow. In 1845 he becoming head of the Royal Botanical Garden and Queen's botanist for Scotland. For 30 years John Hutton Balfor was dean of the medical faculty in Edinburgh, where he first introduced teaching in microscopy.