In the grid below, create a path that starts at cell 1 and ends at cell 49, moving horizontally and vertically only.
The path must touch each of the 49 cells exactly once and contain a:
A. Maximum of 2 consecutive moves N (North),
B. Maximum of 2 consecutive moves W (West),
C. Maximum of 2 consecutive moves S (South), and
D. Maximum of 1 consecutive move E (East)
The solution is unique, but finding the path is not the true goal. The point is to work through it logically and articulate your logic in detail using diagrams.
I'm requesting no partial answers. You are welcome to find the path using a computer, but knowing the path will not help you answer this puzzle, since you need to show each logical step, which will show that the solution is unique.
The accepted answer will have plenty of images. It will have detailed explanations for each image and scenario, be organized and probably lengthy (compared to most puzzles on this site), but not as lengthy as one might think, considering that there are 111,712 possible paths if rules A through D are discarded.
Text version of the grid above (for those who cannot view images):
It is a 7x7 grid with a 1 in the top left cell and a 49 in the bottom right cell. All other cells are blank. Above the grid is an N for "North". To the right of the grid is an E for "East". To the left of the grid is a W for "West". Under the grid is an S for "South".