  For two-dimensional Rayleigh-B\'{e}nard convection, classes of unstable,
steady solutions were previously computed using numerical continuation
(Waleffe, 2015; Sondak, 2015). The `primary' steady solution bifurcates from
the conduction state at $Ra \approx 1708$, and has a characteristic aspect
ratio (length/height) of approximately $2$. The primary solution corresponds to
one pair of counterclockwise-clockwise convection rolls with a temperature
updraft in between and an adjacent downdraft on the sides. By adjusting the
horizontal length of the domain, (Waleffe, 2015; Sondak, 2015) also found
steady, maximal heat transport solutions, with characteristic aspect ratio less
than $2$ and decreasing with increasing $Ra$. Compared to the primary
solutions, optimal heat transport solutions have modifications to boundary
layer thickness, the horizontal length scale of the plume, and the structure of
the downdrafts. The current study establishes a direct link between these
(unstable) steady solutions and transition to turbulence for $Pr = 7$ and $Pr =
100$. For transitional values of $Ra$, the primary and optimal heat transport
solutions both appear prominently in appropriately-sized sub-fields of the
time-evolving temperature fields. For $Ra$ beyond transitional, our data
analysis shows persistence of the primary solution for $Pr = 7$, while the
optimal heat transport solutions are more easily detectable for $Pr = 100$. In
both cases $Pr = 7$ and $Pr = 100$, the relative prevalence of primary and
optimal solutions is consistent with the $Nu$ vs. $Ra$ scalings for the
numerical data and the steady solutions.
