#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
const int INF = 1000000;
const int N = 102;
int h, w;
char mapData[N][N];
int dx[] = {0, 1, 0, -1};
int dy[] = {-1, 0, 1, 0};
int height[N][N];
class State {
 public:
  int y, x, cost;
};
int bfs() {
  State u, v;
  u.y = 0;
  u.x = 0;
  u.cost = 0;
  queue<State> Q;
  Q.push(u);
  int res = INF;
  fill(height[0], height[N], INF);
  height[0][0] = 0;
  while (!Q.empty()) {
    u = Q.front();
    Q.pop();
    if (mapData[u.y][u.x] == '&') res = min(res, u.cost);
    for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
      v.y = u.y + dy[i];
      v.x = u.x + dx[i];
      if (v.y < 0 || v.y >= h) continue;
      if (v.x < 0 || v.x >= w) continue;
      v.cost = u.cost;
      if (mapData[v.y][v.x] == '#') ++v.cost;
      if (height[v.y][v.x] <= v.cost) continue;
      height[v.y][v.x] = v.cost;
      Q.push(v);
    }
  }
  return res;
}
int main() {
  while (cin >> w >> h && (h || w)) {
    for (int i = 1; i <= h; i++) {
      for (int j = 1; j <= w; j++) {
        cin >> mapData[i][j];
      }
    }
    h += 2;
    w += 2;
    for (int i = 0; i < h; i++) mapData[i][0] = '.';
    for (int i = 0; i < h; i++) mapData[i][w - 1] = '.';
    for (int j = 0; j < w; j++) mapData[0][j] = '.';
    for (int j = 0; j < w; j++) mapData[h - 1][j] = '.';
    cout << bfs() << endl;
  }
  return 0;
}
