I'm not sure I'm picturing it correctly, but if it's very high up in a recessed entryway and weather can't get to it, is it really noticeable? Sounds like a person would have to deliberately look up there to see it. So maybe it's the just knowing it's there that is bothering you? Only other thing I can think of is, if a power washer didn't blast it out, I'm not sure what can, so maybe hang some nice decorative thing to hide it?

There really is no paint type stain. It's one or the other. Duration is a paint, so you would throw that out as an option if you were staining. The benefit to using a paint is that it will form a skin on top of the coating which will serve as a protective barrier from moisture and provide a certain degree of washability. The drawback to using a paint is that it will peel. Stain will be much more resistant to peeling, but will not be as washable. Stain is also easier to apply and has better lapping properties. You can really change colors to whatever color you like. The only time you may be limited with color choices is if you are painting aluminum siding. After the power wash, you will want to scrape and sand any loose and peeling paint. You probably won't need an electric sander, but people do use those if peeling is widespread or they are trying to remove paint down to fresh wood quickly. There are scrapers that you can buy, but I always have had the most success with stiff putty knifes. After you are done scraping you will want to feather sand edges of peeled paint with 150 grit and then prime the raw areas of wood with a high quality exterior oil based slow drying primer. I use 2.5" brushes for pretty much everything but 3" brushes are also good for painting wide boards. You can also roll the paint on with a small 4" roller and then backbrush. This may be faster. Try not to work in the sun, and only tackle as many boards as you can to keep the edge of your paint wet. You want to do 1-4 boards at a time (depending on how fast you are) and then do the next set. What you don't want to do is stop in the center of a board, unless it is at a seam.

use dalys house cleaner and then hit it with dalys wood brightner. use a stiff deck brush if you use a pressure washer it needs to be at a low pressure of 600 to 800 psi.

I am responding to my own question. I searched and searched and found the best recipe to clean our oil base stained cedar wood exterior! The black discoloration literally "ran off" when sprayed with a simple garden sprayer and the following mixture: 1 gal water ( I used warm softened water from inside home), 4 C Clorox outdoor bleach, 1/4 C Dawn liquid dish soap. Am feeling guilty for all the times my husband scrubbed this house! After spraying with the garden sprayer, let it sit about 10 min and rinse off with hose. It looks like new siding! The company that makes our shingles also recommended something similar to clean our roof so we knew the shingles would not be "bleached".