#include<iostream>
#include<vector>
#include<string>
#include<stack>
using namespace std;
int main(){
  int w,h;
  string line;
  while(true){
    cin>>w>>h;
    if(!w&&!h)
      break;
    vector<string> castle;
    for(int i=0;i<h;i++){
      cin>>line;
      castle.push_back(line);
    }
    int count[w+2][h+2];
    int sx,sy;
    const int MAX = 1000;
    for(int y=1;y<h+1;y++){
      for(int x=1;x<w+1;x++){
	count[x][y] = MAX;
	if (castle[y-1][x-1]=='&'){
	  sx = x;
	  sy = y;
	  castle[y-1][x-1]='.';
	}
      }
    }
    int min = MAX;
    int dx[4] = {1,0,-1,0};
    int dy[4] = {0,1,0,-1};
    count[sx][sy] = 0;
    stack<int> st;
    st.push(sy*(w+2)+sx);
    while(!st.empty()){
      int x = st.top()%(w+2);
      int y = st.top()/(w+2);
      st.pop();
      char c = castle[y-1][x-1];
      int n;
      for(int d=0;d<4;d++){
	n = count[x][y];
	if(x+dx[d]>0&&y+dy[d]>0&&x+dx[d]<w+1&&y+dy[d]<h+1){
	  if(c=='.'&&castle[y+dy[d]-1][x+dx[d]-1]=='#')
	    n++;
	  if(n<count[x+dx[d]][y+dy[d]]){
	    count[x+dx[d]][y+dy[d]] = n;
	    st.push((y+dy[d])*(w+2)+x+dx[d]);
	  }
	}
	else{
	  if(n<min)
	    min = n;
	}
      }
    }
    cout<<min<<endl;
  }
  return 0;
}