While I think the HSR thing is a POS, the route via Mojave is part of its insanity. Heavy works are the answer over/under/thru the mountains, including tunnels. Fears of quakes are [how can I resist] crying Wolfe. If one thinks CA GEOfolks are incapable of solution [ i think they are capable], ask the Japanese how, they have done it.
There is no will, even on the part of the HSRfreaks, to ask for, much less spend [ wisely?] the money it really takes to do it right, that is HIGH SPEED. Meantime, the legislature will pee away every cent it can get its hands on and some of it will actually go toward, say, bad education.
Did i say Nuke Sacramento?