Wow! Came 2 close in the first 12 tries, but made no progress in the next 12. Will be back ! Edit: Finally, in 188th try, I got rid of the 2 ! :) Not completely sure, how it saved 2 moves, though.
After all this time, I still don't have a clue on how to cut 6 steps of one of my two paths or find another path that can lead my close to an end. Awesome. EDIT: Oh.