Janki Ramanuj asked Gary Hoover:

why did Jeff dip a toe into the portal?

Gary Hoover Jeff found with the very small table-top version of the portal that when he he put his fingers into it, that triggered it to turn on. He found the same thing with the larger version on the floor. By the time he came back with the climbing ropes, he was determined to go through the portal and he turned it back on (he didn't stop to think that it had turned itself off in his absence . . . which ends up being important ;) ) by dipping his toe into it.

The devices (both the table top and larger one) turn themselves off to save energy when not in use. They both turn on automatically when something starts to enter. Jeff dipping his toe in was basically activating the 'on' switch.

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