FRANCONIA, N.H. — There is no replacing the Old Man of the Mountain, the beloved natural landmark that tumbled from its craggy perch at Franconia Notch State Park in 2003, sending this state into deepest grief.

But now, if you visit the old viewing area, line yourself up behind a device that resembles a giant upside-down hockey stick with bumps on it, and squint, you can glimpse the Old Man’s stern profile on the side of the cliff where it used to be.

It is hard to explain. You pretty much have to be there, and hope that Dick Hamilton is there, too, to explain the devices, steel rods known as profilers that are meant to help recapture the bliss of gazing up at New Hampshire’s proudest icon. Installed last month, they are cool or confounding, depending on whether you figure them out.

“Oh yes!” Ray Turmelle of Wolfeboro, N.H., said after Mr. Hamilton positioned him just so behind a profiler the other day. “I can see it now, absolutely.”